The feature is still in beta but will eventually roll out to every WhatsApp user in India.
WhatsApp is beta testing letting users in India send money to each other through the app. The feature isn't available to everyone yet, but here's what it looks like once you have it.
BuzzFeed News screenshot
Tapping "Payment" lets users enter an amount and zap it to anyone they're chatting with on WhatsApp, as long as the other person has payments enabled too.
The feature works on a system called Unified Payments Interface, an Indian government-backed technology that lets users transfer money directly into each other's bank accounts using just their mobile numbers, or a bank-issued payment ID that looks like an email address.
This also means that it *most probably* won't come to any other countries. 😞
BuzzFeed News screenshot
But sources in a position to know told BuzzFeed News that the company will let users in India know when the beta test is over and the feature is more widely available.
WhatsApp's payment feature already has competition in India from the government-backed BHIM app, Alibaba-backed digital wallet Paytm, Flipkart-owned PhonePe, and Google's own payments app for India called Tez.
BUT more than 200 million Indians already use WhatsApp, so the company has an edge.
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Either way, I can't wait for my family to be sending me money instead of spamming me with "Good morning!" messages.
LINK: Viral WhatsApp Hoaxes Are India’s Own Fake News Crisis
LINK: WhatsApp Family Groups Are Keeping Indian Families Together — And Driving Some Apart
LINK: Older Indians Drive Millennials Crazy On WhatsApp. This Is Why They're Obsessed.
LINK: Inside The Testosterone-Soaked Culture Of India’s Guys-Only WhatsApp Groups
from BuzzFeed - Tech https://www.buzzfeed.com/pranavdixit/whatsapp-payments-in-india?utm_term=4ldqpia
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