In a media release on 13 April 2022, National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has announced an additional user allocation for Unified Payments Interface (UPI) payments on WhatsApp. The additional Six (06) Crore users on UPI for WhatsApp will now allow WhatsApp to expand the service to its Ten (10) Crore users.
What is WhatsApp Pay?
WhatsApp Pay is a payments service introduced by the Facebook-owned messaging app, WhatsApp. It is another form of interface approved by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) that allows linking of Bank Account to a Payment platform through which you can use the app to send or receive money to anyone who is registered with UPI. This is very useful when making cashless as well as card-less transactions, be it with a shopkeeper or to simply send money to a friend. The WhatsApp Pay is like Google Pay, Paytm, PhonePe and more. The WhatsApp is linked to an UPI ID and this then is linked to a Banking Account, It is built on the unified payments platform (UPI) and competes with other online payment platforms. Specific to WhatsApp Pay, it is an in-chat payment feature that allows users to make transactions via WhatsApp to their contact list. Since WhatsApp pay is done by using the government’s UPI payments system, any payments made via WhatsApp Pay are secure.
About NPCI
National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) was incorporated in 2008 as an umbrella organization for operating retail payments and settlement systems in India. NPCI through its infrastructure and processes has created a robust payment and settlement infrastructure in India. It has a varied form of payments and receipts made in India through a bouquet of retail payment products such as RuPay card, Immediate Payment Service (IMPS), Unified Payments Interface (UPI), Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM), BHIM Aadhaar, National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC Fastag) and Bharat BillPay. The Government of the day is also competing internationally to include RuPay as an acceptable Payment Gateway like Master, Visa, Amex, etc.
When was WhatsApp Pay introduced in India?
WhatsApp Pay was launched in February 2018 in India as part of a trial run. Payments through WhatsApp were introduced to 10 Lakh users under a partnership with ICICI Bank. On February 7, 2020, the messaging app received NPCI’s approval to roll out its digital payment service in a phased manner. In the first phase, WhatsApp was provided payment services to 1 Crore users in the country.
WhatsApp was launched as a one-to-one chat app service in February 2009 by two former employees of Yahoo -Brian Acton and Jan Koum. The app was first released on the App store for iPhone users in August. In August 2010, the company finally added the support for Android OS. Facebook purchased WhatsApp in 2014. Facebook’s bid price was at $16 billion USD. WhatsApp was launched in India in mid-2010 and soon became the most popular messaging app in the country.
India as per the June 2021 count had about 48.8 crore users. WhatsApp has 2 billion active users worldwide. WhatsApp is ranked as the most used mobile messenger app in the world. More than 100 billion messages are sent each day on WhatsApp. The average WhatsApp user on Android spends 38 minutes per day on the app. India has the most WhatsApp monthly active users i.e. 390.1 million.
How to Initiate and Configure WhatsApp Pay if you are a WhatsApp User:
Here’s how to link your bank account with WhatsApp:
On Android smartmobile
Step 1: Tap More options > Settings > Payments > Add new account.
Step 2: Tap Accept and Continue to accept our Payments Terms and Privacy Policy.
Step 3: From the list of banks, tap the name of your bank. — >> Tap Verify via SMS > Allow.
If WhatsApp already has permission to make and manage phone calls, you won’t need to grant permission.
Step 4: Tap the bank account you want to add to send and receive payments with WhatsApp.
Tap Done.
On Apple iPhone
Step 1: Tap Settings > Payments > Add New Account.
Step 2: Tap Accept and Continue to accept our Payments Terms and Privacy Policy.
Step 3: From the list of banks, tap the name of your bank. Tap Verify via SMS. A pre-filled SMS with a verification code will open up on your phone. Tap Send to send this message and verify your account. Don’t make any edits to the content of this message.
Step 4: Tap the bank account you want to add to send and receive payments with WhatsApp.
Tap Done.
It should be noted that to send money (on both Android and iOS devices), users will also need to verify the last 6 digits of their debit card and the expiration date.
(if you don’t see your bank listed, it may not be supported.)
How to use WhatsApp Pay?
Users can send money directly through chat by tapping on the share file icon and selecting ‘payment’. The ‘payment’ section is available on the shortcut menu. When a WhatsApp user select a contact and clicks on the message box, the “₹” icon is also now available to initiate a payment using ‘WhatsApp Pay’. Users can check their transaction history and account details in that section. The payment system works on the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) method, where fund transfers can be initiated without having to provide bank account numbers and IFSC codes of recipients.
WhatsApp Pay: Modes of transaction
WhatsApp Pay allows users to send money only to their contacts after which it enables UPI ID. WhatsApp Pay users could enter the UPI ID and send money. Through QR code, WhatsApp users can also send money to people who are not in their contact list.
How can I delete my bank account from WhatsApp?
Here are the steps to follow:
- Step 1: Go to WhatsApp.
- Step 2: Click on the option – Payments.
- Step 3: Select the bank account you want to delete.
- Step 4: Tap on – Remove Bank Account.