WhatsApp Pay UPI Payments India: How to set up, send and receive money via WhatsApp Pay

WhatsApp Pay UPI Payments: Following the arrival of the novel coronavirus pandemic, many Indians (barring essential services and front line workers) have been indoors for well over a year now. One of the lifestyle adjustments made by many Indians to cope with the pandemic was greater adoption of digital payments, especially the Unified Payments Interface, popularly known as UPI. November last year, Facebook-owned WhatsApp officially launched WhatsApp Pay for users on Android and iOS devices.

However, while most users were able to sign up for WhatsApp Pay when the service rolled out (after a two-year-long beta test that began in 2018) a number of users were unable to access the new feature, and remained without access for several months. On June 26, reports emerged that the payments service finally was rolling out to more users in the country, allowing them to take advantage of WhatsApp’s UPI-based payment mechanism.

Here’s everything you need to know about WhatsApp Pay and you can get started with using the UPI-based payment service.

What is WhatsApp Payment?

Just like other popular payment apps like Google Pay, PhonePe, Amazon Pay and other apps, WhatsApp Pay also operates using UPI, which means that users can connect their compatible bank accounts to WhatsApp Pay and begin transferring money to their contacts or to businesses like retail stores. The service supports all major banks such as HDFC, ICICI, State Bank of India, Axis Bank and even Airtel Payments Bank. Many other banks are also supported by the payments platform.

How to set up WhatsApp Pay account

Before you get started make sure you the following prerequisites for creating a UPI account on WhatsApp Pay. You will need an active account at an Indian Bank that supports UPI. You also need to make sure that the phone number registered with the bank is currently inserted in your smartphone where you have WhatsApp installed. It is also recommended that users download the latest version of WhatsApp on their devices. You can then follow these steps to add your account to WhatsApp Pay.

Step 1) Look for the three-dot menu at the top right corner on the WhatsApp home screen. Tap on Payments > Add payment method.

Step 2) WhatsApp will now show you how many contacts are using WhatsApp Pay. Tap Continue to go to the next screen.

Step 3) You will now see a message explaining how the service works. You can read the company’s Payment Terms and Privacy Policy on that screen or by clicking on this link. Once you have read the terms, you can click on Accept and Continue.

Step 4) From the list of banks displayed on the app, locate your bank and tap it. You will need to verify that you own the bank account and WhatsApp will verify the account using an SMS. You may need to grant requisite permissions for this process to complete.

Step 5) If you have more than one account with the bank registered to the same phone number, you will see them listed inside the app. Select the account you want to add to WhatsApp Pay.

Step 6) At this point, you will be able to receive funds on WhatsApp Pay. However, if you want to send funds, you will need to provide the last 6 digits (XX XXXX) of your bank’s debit card and enter the expiration date on the card. You can then set a UPI PIN and then begin using the payment service. 

How to Send money via WhatsApp Pay

You can now send and receive money inside WhatsApp. To do so, you can go to a chat with the contact you want to send money to, and tap the paperclip icon then tap Payment to initiate a transaction. You can enter the amount of money you want to send to the user, after which WhatsApp will ask you to enter your UPI PIN and the transaction will be completed.

How to receive money via WhatsApp Pay

Receiving money sent by other users on WhatsApp or outside WhatsApp is easy. You can receive money from anyone using WhatsApp Pay, as long as they are using an application that is also based on UPI, just like WhatsApp.

About WhatsApp

One of the biggest advantages of using UPI for payments is that users can send each other money despite using different apps. This means that even though a user might be on Google Pay, they can still send you money on WhatsApp Pay. In a similar manner, you will be able to send money from WhatsApp Pay to a user who only uses PhonePe.

WhatsApp QR Code

WhatsApp previously allowed you to send money only to your contacts, but later allowed users to send money to anyone as long as they enter their UPI ID. In order to make things easier for users while they are outdoors, the service also allows users to scan a QR code to send money or receive money using the app.

In order to receive payments inside WhatsApp Pay, go to  the Payments section from the three dot menu and tap the new payment button. Then use the QR scanner to identify the correct UPI ID and make your payment.