One of the most powerful social platforms and Facebook-owned messaging applications is WhatsApp. It has proved to be the most popular messaging, calls, and chatting application amongst other competitors such as Signal and Telegram.
WhatsApp already holds all the features that a user would ask for and is hence commonly used globally. Another useful feature has now been employed by the application for the users of India since 2020 that allows them to transact and make payments through WhatsApp. This feature is called WhatsApp pay.
Further information about WhatsApp pay, how to make payments through WhatsApp, its pros and cons would be discussed in this article.
Make Payments Through WhatsApp- What to Know?
Starting from November 2020, about 20 million Indian users (both Android and iOS) could use digital transactions using WhatsApp pay that connects several renowned banks such as State Bank of India (SBI), HDFC, Axis Bank, and ICICI Bank with their users through UPI system, that is, the Unified Payment Interface system designed according to the National Payments Corporation of India’s (NPCI). However, it was launched early in 2018 on a trial basis and received the NPCI approval on February 7th, 2020.
Now it stands amongst its competitors Paytm, Google Pay, PhonePe, etc in the market of digital transactions. Growing developments and the need for quick alternatives for safe transactions have led to the boosting of such platforms, especially amongst youngsters.
The Head of WhatsApp (India), Mr Abhijit Bose shared his thoughts with users about being excited and privileged to partner with the banks and bring in the benefits of the digital economy to a large number of users who lacked this access before.
How to Make Payments Through WhatsApp?
WhatsApp Pay can be used by the users to transact money to those on their contact list or others using the QR code. The process is quite simple, in which the user has to initiate a payment through the application and when a request is received, the payment is made through a UPI account.
Setting up an account
A UPI account must be created to further proceed with a transaction using WhatsApp. Here are the simple steps to create an account:
Step 1. The three dots icon on the top right-hand corner of WhatsApp to open ‘Settings’ in Android devices and for iOS devices, click on the 'Settings' option from the bottom corner of the application.
Step 2. Choose the 'Payments' option from the options and click on the 'Add Payment Method'. Further, one has to accept the WhatsApp Payment policies for which one has to click on 'Accept and Continue'.
Step 3. This will open the list of all banks from which the user’s bank could be chosen and added for transactions. Make sure that you choose the bank linked with the same phone number that you have for WhatsApp as an SMS regarding verification would be sent to this number.
Step 4. The next steps are the same as in every digital payment platform, setting up a UPI pin after proper verification. This pin is very important as it would be required for future transactions and would act as a check mechanism to prevent any kind of cheating.
With this, the user has successfully created a UPI account for a safe mode of transactions in the future.
Payment through WhatsApp Pay
Now let us focus on the steps to send or receive money using this account in WhatsApp through the WhatsApp pay option. Follow these steps to do the same:
Step 1. Open the WhatsApp application on your smartphone (both Android or iOS devices) to access the WhatsApp Pay feature.
Step 2. Search and click on the contact to which the money has to be sent through the app. In case of receiving the money, the amount would be added directly to the bank account linked with WhatsApp pay.
Step 3. So, to send the money, click on the attachment button at the bottom of the screen of the particular contact. Choose the Accept and Continue option to proceed with the payment process.
Step 4. Choose the bank from the list of banks from which money would be shared. The bank linked to your WhatsApp Pay account should be used.
Step 5. Choose the verify via SMS option. Immediately, a verification code would be sent to your smartphone via SMS.
Step 6. Now the account linked to your phone would be displayed in which you can enter the amount to be sent. For a successful transaction, you would have to enter the UPI pin after which the money would be sent to the selected contact. If a wrong pin is entered the transaction would be stopped and even blocked if repeatedly done.
Finally, the user would be directed to a page with a confirmation message that contains the details about the receiver and the amount transferred.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Here are solutions to some of the commonly asked doubts and issues faced during transactions using WhatsApp Pay:
Unsuccessful transfer and refund
In case of transfers where all the steps have been processed properly yet the receiver has not received the payment then do not worry, it sometimes takes about four workings days for the payment to be processed by the bank. In any worse scenario, where the transaction is failed after the amount is debited from your end, then it would be refunded within 4 business days.
Cannot find my bank on the list
The first step to check the reason behind this issue is to ensure that your bank supports the UPI system. Other reasons could be:
- Usage of a different phone number that is not linked with the bank. If the credentials are correct then try contacting your bank.
- The issue might be faced in the case of joint accounts or NRI (Non – resident Indian) accounts as they are not supported.
In this article, we have covered all the aspects, issues, features related to WhatsApp Pay, and the steps to make payments through WhatsApp. Hope this helped in making easy and safe payments anywhere, anytime!
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