As of 2022, WhatsApp Payments is now widely available in India and other supported markets, marking a huge leap forward for the Facebook-owned company as it looks to expand beyond its messaging capabilities and prepares to capitalize on opportunities for ecommerce.
Here’s everything you need to know about WhatsApp’s aspiring payment feature.
WhatsApp’s push to launch a payments service in India dates back to 2018. In February 2018, WhatsApp received approval from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) for a pilot test of its payments service, which saw the company roll out the service to one million users.
But it soon came to an abrupt end when the company became involved in a two-year organizational battle. One of the requests made by the regulators was to comply with the Reserve Bank of India’s data storage guidelines, which require all payment service providers (PSPs) to store users’ financial data within of Indian Territory.
RBI has asked NPCI to conduct a large-scale rollout of WhatsApp Pay until the company meets these requirements.
WhatsApp initially resisted compliance, but realizing there was no way around it, the company agreed to meet the data localization requirements necessary to receive the green light to launch.
WhatsApp Deloitte appointed a third-party CERT-In auditor to review compliance, which submitted its report to NPCI on May 29, 2020, stating that WhatsApp is fully compliant with RBI’s data localization standards.
NPCI then formally approved WhatsApp and its payment service provider, ICICI Bank, to roll out UPI on a phased basis, with the feature made available to up to 20 million users in the first wave.
In November 2021, WhatsApp received the green light to expand the service to another 20 million users. This brings the total number of users who can access WhatsApp Pay to 40 million, a small number considering that WhatsApp has more than 400 million strong users in India.
In which countries is the service of sending money via WhatsApp available?
Unlike other WhatsApp features that are available globally, the Payments feature is currently only available in three countries: India, the United States, and Brazil.
In India, WhatsApp Pay uses the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) platform. While in Brazil the feature is powered by Facebook Pay, payments are processed by credit and debit card operator Cielo.
In the US, WhatsApp users can send and receive money through Novi Wallet.
Novi is a digital wallet from WhatsApp’s parent company, Meta. It allows users to transfer money via a stablecoin called Pax Dollar (USDP) backed by US dollars (for example, 1 USDP equals 1 USD).
How to activate the money transfer service
You must have the latest version of WhatsApp for Android or iOS.
Your WhatsApp number should be the same number linked to your bank account as well. Even if you don’t have a UPI account with the bank. You will also be able to take advantage of the in-app service, which creates a new account (UPI).
How to activate the service on your account
Open the WhatsApp application, then go to Settings by clicking on the three vertical dots in the upper right corner, then click on Payments
Select the option to add a new payment method. Then click OK.
Choose your bank, which is your main account (UPI).
Once you’ve selected your bank, you’ll need to verify your phone number. Click Verify by SMS.
Wait for the verification process to complete. Once done, you will see all the accounts associated with the phone number, choose the account you want to use. Then your bank details will be added.
How to send and receive money via WhatsApp
You can transfer very easily, after activating the service on your account, as the payment option will appear in the conversation and sending and receiving becomes very simple.
Select the contact you want to send money to.
Within the conversation, click the attachment icon.
Click on the payment option and select the amount to send (you can also add a note).
Enter your UPI PIN to complete your payment.
You will see a confirmation message appear directly in the conversation window once the transaction is complete.