A Complete Guide to WhatsApp Pay

Providing an unmatched instant messaging experience, WhatsApp quickly became a sensation with its roll-out in India in 2010. The Facebook-owned company boasts a user base of more than 2 billion people worldwide, with 400 million in India alone.

It goes without saying that WhatsApp has a gigantic fan following, so much so that one can not imagine messaging sans this app. It has made us dependent on it, but in a good way.

Ever since the launch of one of its much-awaited features, i.e., WhatsApp Pay, in 2018, you have more reasons now to love it, both as a consumer and as a business.

About WhatsApp Pay and Its Launch in India

WhatsApp describes the payment feature on its website in the following words:

"Whether it’s sending money home, splitting the cost of your aunt’s birthday gift, or paying back a friend for lunch, do it all with no fees on WhatsApp."

WhatsApp Pay offers a hassle-free money transfer experience that is as easy as clicking a button. The feature is free of cost and allows you to send and receive money to/from your contacts in real-time. It uses the UPI (Unified Payments Interface) platform to facilitate the service. Their major competitors include PhonePe, Google Pay, and Paytm.

February 2018 was the first time WhatsApp sought approval from NPCI (National Payments Corporation of India) to test a beta version of its payment service. However, before giving a green signal, NPCI wanted WhatsApp to comply with RBI guidelines. The guidelines mandate that all Payments Service Providers (PSPs) store their users' financial data within the Indian Territory.

This compliance conflict stretched on for more than two years. NPCI finally gave a formal go-ahead in November 2020 to roll out the feature in a phased manner, only after WhatsApp fulfilled RBI’s condition.

According to a report published in India Today, the Facebook-owned company now has NPCI permission to roll out the feature to over 100 million users in India.

In this article, you will learn the complete steps for registering and using WhatsApp Pay.

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Guidelines to Use WhatsApp Pay

Here are the guidelines for this usage:

Prerequisites

Before starting to use WhatsApp Pay, check for the following:

✅Install/update the latest version of WhatsApp on your phone.

✅Make sure you have an account with any one of the banks that WhatsApp Pay supports.

✅Your phone number registered with your bank account should be the same as your WhatsApp number.

How to Send Money via WhatsApp Pay?

When using the payment feature for the first time on the app, you must register on WhatsApp Pay. For registration, you need to link your bank account to WhatsApp, just like in any other UPI-enabled platform. Here are the steps:

✅Open the latest version of WhatsApp on your device. Tap on the three vertical dots appearing in the upper right corner of the screen and select the “Payments” option.

✅On the screen, tap the “Add Payment Method” option. From the list that appears, select the Bank where you have an account and want to link for payments.

✅Finally, click “Done” to finish setting up payments. You will now be able to see the payment history, your UPI Id, and your linked bank account on the Payments page.

Please note that you can only send money to those WhatsApp contacts who have registered for WhatsApp Pay. However, you have an option to notify the respective contact(s) so that they can enable the service on their device.

You can start making transactions after successfully adding your bank account to the payments page.

Here are the steps to send money to a WhatsApp contact:

✅On WhatsApp, open the chat screen of the contact to which you want to send money.

✅Tap the attachment button (paperclip icon) that you can see in the message box and select the “Payment” option.

✅The Send Payment page will appear. Enter the amount of money you want to send to your contact. Add a note for the amount if you wish. Tap "Next" and then the "Send Payment" option.

✅Finally, enter your UPI pin to complete your transaction.

✅Once your payment is successful, you’ll see a tick and a message saying “Completed” on the chat window.

How Does WhatsApp Pay Benefit Businesses?

This feature is not only helpful for customers but also for you as a business. It sets up a seamless and secure payment collection solution. You can reach out to individuals or groups of customers through your business account to market your services and then use WhatsApp Pay to receive online payments.

Customers prefer companies that make their lives easier, whether their a product, service, or payment system. With this feature, you can offer a hassle-free payment service to your customers and make way for a smooth customer experience.

Some of the benefits of this feature for businesses include:

1. A Boon for Local and New Businesses

Even before the introduction of WhatsApp Pay, customers sought product and payment information from local or new firms via WhatsApp. This service will prove particularly useful for businesses that don't have full-fledged eCommerce sites as the whole deal can take place on a single platform - WhatsApp.

2. Immediate Sales

Instead of using emails, the sales team can leverage the instant messaging service via WhatsApp through their business accounts to contact customers.

While chatting with a customer, the sales representative can give all the information about the product or service, answer any queries and offer the opportunity to buy the product directly in the chat. Since WhatsApp Pay will take care of payment, this could mean an immediate sale for your business.

3. Useful in Tracking Customer ROI

With the sales team dealing with the customer entirely on WhatsApp, it will be easier for you to track which customer chats resulted in a purchase, which did not, and how much ROI you are making from WhatsApp payments. The sales team can track the entire payment history through WhatsApp.

Eventually, the WhatsApp Pay feature can enable business growth and overcome challenges associated with online payments.

Conclusion

Considering the intense competition from other UPI-enabled payment apps, WhatsApp still has a way to go in transactions. Currently, PhonePe and Google Pay seem to be leading the scene, but tables can surely turn. Are you ready to power WhatsApp commerce for your brand? Book your demo with Vizury today.