WhatsApp Pay Might be a Reality Next Week

WhatsApp Pay, a payment service might be officially launched next week following reports. This is still uncertain as Facebook hasn’t officially make any remark about launch. If this finally, happens it will only be functional in India.

WhatsApp has been a major messaging App in the world and the users are now using it as a medium to sell products and services. Some organise seminars and trainings online, yet people still doll out cash from their wallet to pay.

If Facebook, owner of WhatsApp decided to make moves in integrating a payment solution on the platform that is quite strategic. Apparently, users who trade via the messaging App will applaud the initiative.

This quote is rather confusing:

“WhatsApp is not a licensed financial institution, do not receive, transfer, or store any funds in connection with payments, and are not responsible for UPI service interruptions or acts or omissions of PSPs or your bank including the payment, settlement, and clearance of funds.”

Be it as it may, for anybody to make payment on WhatsApp both the sender and receiver need to activate UPI on their smartphones.

Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is an instant payment system developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), an RBI regulated entity.

UPI is built over the IMPS infrastructure and allows users to instantly transfer money between any two parties’ bank accounts.

Rivals such as Paytm and Google Tez are already leading in the market share but WhatsApp Pay is likely to face the challenge square and compete. These rivals do not have social messaging competitiveness and that could be a selling point for WhatsApp Pay.

Mint already reported that WhatsApp Pay will partner HDFC Bank Ltd., ICICI Bank Ltd. and Axis Bank Ltd. to process the transfers, and State Bank of India (SBI) will join once it has the necessary systems in place.

“WhatsApp has a great starting point: a monopoly in chat,” said Vivek Belgavi, leader for financial technology at PwC. “High engagement makes it a credible competition.”

How to Use the Payment Feature on WhatsApp

* Check if your phone has the latest version of WhatsApp (2.18.46)
* Go to Settings and select Payment
* Verify your mobile number to link with bank account
* After linking your account, head over to the chat window
* Pay another user from the message interface with a 4-digit PIN as the password