UPI BASED PAYMENT FEATURE OF WHATSAPP NOW LIVE IN INDIA

Whatsapp has started testing a new payment facility in India, so that people can send money to other WhatsApp users except franchise accounts. This feature is currently in beta, according to sources familiar with the company's plans but has not been announced publicly as it is not widely available at this time.

                   The company is working on support for payment facility for some time, which can take advantage of the UPI (Unified Payments Interface) and the support of many Indian banks including State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank.

          Now the beta tester has found that this functionality is live, with a large list of supported banks displayed in the Whatsapp user interface. WhatsApp’s support for payments is highly anticipated because of the app’s huge popularity among Indian users. India is WhatsApp’s largest market with over 200 million active daily users.

        Users must first configure the feature by verifying their phone number by SMS and selecting the bank. Follow these steps to verify your phone number

Step 1: Open WhatsApp, tap on the three dots at the top right corner and navigate to the Settings > Payments window.

Step 2: Tapping on the payment option will take you to a new window, where you’ll first need to verify your phone number to begin the UPI setup process. Your registered phone number on WhatsApp should be the same as the one used to register for UPI.

Step 3: Once your number is verified, a list of banks will appear on the screen. Now you can go ahead and select the bank and account that you want to link with WhatsApp.

Note: WhatsApp has partnered with ICICI Bank to process UPI payments across the platform.

Step 4: Though it may take some time to process, you’ll see a “Setup Complete” message on your screen which means your bank account has been linked and you can now make or receive payments

     The payment option is available from the main WhatsApp interface; in the same attach button next to the camera icon where users can also share a photo, video, file, contact or location in the chat session.