WhatsApp rolls out payment service in India | How to Send and Receive Money through WhatsApp Pay?

Probably one percent population In India doesn't aware of this freeware, ofcourse all have been knew this messenger App. Let me go through some basics of this freeware, WhatsApp messenger is an American freeware and cross-platform messaging service owned by Facebook, Inc. WhatsApp allows users to send text messages and voice messages, make video and voice calls, and share documents, images and user locations. It came into market on 3 May 2009 which is initial release of this freeware but now this messenger app is best known for secure platform and around 300 millions users In India use this free software.

India currently has multifarious e-commerce payment platform including Phonepe, Paytm, Freecharge, Amazon Pay, Google Pay and many more. Now WhatsApp Pay come into existence in India. The Facebook-owned service announced that the feature will be available in India starting today. WhatsApp in its blog has mentioned that As on light Internet speed text will never stuck between sender and receiver so on the same line they wants to make money transferring as easy as sending messages on the app.

The company said Friday that it is rolling out payments in ten Indian regional languages in the latest stable version of WhatsApp app on IOS and Android . The announcement comes hours after National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the body that operates the popular UPI payments infrastructure, said that it had granted approval to WhatsApp to rolling out UPI-powered payments in the country. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said sending money will be now as easy as sending a message. “Now you can send money to your friends and family through WhatsApp as easily as sending a message. There’s no fee, and it’s supported by more than 140 banks. And because it’s WhatsApp, it’s secure and private too,” he said in a video message See this video conference on Tweeter posted by The Indian Express.

Watch | Mark Zuckerberg says, “Now you can send money to your friends and family through #WhatsApp as easily as sending a message."

Read here: https://t.co/Q9AQFbw3Lt pic.twitter.com/OcrNXQmGaw

— The Indian Express (@IndianExpress) November 6, 2020

 

 “With UPI, India has created something truly special and is opening up a world of opportunities for micro and small businesses that are the backbone of the Indian economy. India is the first country to do anything like this. I’m glad we were able to support this effort and work together to help achieve a more digital India. I want to thank all our partners who’ve made this possible. When people can access financial tools, they’re more empowered to support themselves and others, or start a business. Long term, we need more innovation that gives people control over their money, and making payments easier is a small step that can really help,” said Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive of Facebook, in a video posted Friday.

NPCI said WhatsApp, get a large amount of users around 400 million in India, can expand payments to its users in a “graded manner” , it can only roll out the payments service to 20 million users and has to work with multiple banking partners. Company said in a conference that it is working with five leading banks in India: HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, State Bank of India, Jio Payments Bank and Axis Bank. The service first launched in India as a beta in 2018, but a full rollout was delayed for years by concerns about data storage and sharing, company appointed the co-founder of a digital payments firm, Abhijit Bose, as its first India chief, signaling a desire to ramp up its plans in the space.

NPCI said that it would be enforcing a cap on third-party apps to ensure that no single app processes more than 30% of all UPI transactions in a month. It’s evident that WhatsApp has already suffered too much because of regulatory troubles in India, its biggest market by users. But NPCI plan to enforce limit on other apps should help WhatsApp in some way eventually. Facebook itself has made a big push in e-commerce in the past year. Earlier this year, Facebook Inc. invested $5.7 billion in Indian telecom giant Jio Platforms, the largest foreign direct investment in the technology space in India. Facebook executives have said that they plan to work with Jio Platforms to explore ways to digitize India’s 60 million small and medium-sized businesses. 

How to register?

Registration process is pretty easy only you will need to have a bank account and phone number linked to the account to enable payments on WhatsApp. Payments can be made by clicking on the ‘attachments’ icon at the bottom of the screen that you would normally use to send photos, videos etc. WhatsApp will direct you to register first and ask for permission to make and use phone calls and read messages in order to complete the registration. In order to actually make a payment, you also need to set a UPI passcode. If you already have a UPI passcode with an existing UPI app then you can use the same code.

Transaction limit on WhatsApp Pay

The transaction limit for Rs 1 lakh for UPI also applies to Whatsapp. UPI is a free service and you will not be charged for transactions on it. Some UPI apps allow you to send money to people by simply entering their bank account number and IFSC code but this feature is not mentioned by company in conference probably further they will add that option too on WhatsApp.

Set up Account on WhatsApp Pay

Step 1: Open WhatsApp app on your phone and tap on the three-dotted icon, which is placed on the top right corner of the screen and click on Payments.

Step 2: Tap on Add payment method, You will get a list of bank names on pop up screen.

Step 3: After selecting the name of the bank, your number (mandatory to linked with your bank) will be verified. For this, you need to tap on Verify via SMS. Make sure the WhatsApp number is the same as the one linked to your bank account.

Step 4: Once the verification process is completed, you can then need to finish setting up payments. You will need to set a UPI pin for carrying out transactions and if you already make UPI from other apps then there is no need to setting up of UPI Pin . After this, you will be able to see the chosen bank on the payments page.

How to send or receive money?

Step 1: Open the WhatsApp app on your phone and tap on the three-dotted icon, which is placed on the top right corner of the screen. Click on 'New Payment' option located on the bottom right. Select mode of payment-'Scan QR Code' OR  'Send to a UPI ID'. If you select 'Send to a UPI ID', you will be directed to enter the UPI ID of the recipient.

 

Step 2: Once the ID is verified, enter the amount and then your UPI Pin.

Step 3: After you enter your UPI PIN, the transaction will be processed and you can view the transaction in your account payment history if amount is deducted and not received by destination bank then don't worry your money will automatically credited to your account in 3-4 working days.