WhatsApp had a rough time navigating through the regulatory hurdles to set up its payment service. It’s had some luck keeping the service up and running in India and Brazil, but it’s yet to expand to other markets in any meaningful way. The Novi pilot that enabled WhatsApp Novi’s integration for select users in the United States has also ended since then, meaning they can no longer use it for payments. That leaves WhatsApp payments in the hands of Indian and Brazilian users, who can use it for peer-to-peer payments in 2023. If you are in one of these regions and want to use this feature, then here’s a detailed guide to help you get started with payments on WhatsApp to send and receive money from your friends and family.
WhatsApp payment availability
Payments on WhatsApp, as I mentioned earlier, are only available in limited countries right now and works with all the best phones. You can use it for peer-to-peer money transfers and pay registered businesses on WhatsApp in only India and Brazil at the moment. Singapore has also been added to the list, although you can only use WhatsApp to pay registered businesses there, so I’d say it’s still very limited.
WhatsApp’s FAQ page says it’s “working to bring this feature to other countries,” but we’re yet to see the service expand to other markets.
How to set up WhatsApp payments
The first thing you need to do is ensure you’re running the latest version of WhatsApp to use payments within the app. You can use the download button below to get the latest version from the Play Store. Once you do, simply follow the steps given below to start sending and receiving payments on WhatsApp.
- From within the app, tap on the three-dot menu icon in the upper right corner and look for the Payments option.
- Select it to start setting up your payments, and follow the on-screen instructions to proceed.
- In India, WhatsApp relies on the country’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) framework to facilitate payments, for which it’ll ask you to select and link your bank account in this step.
- Simply select the bank in which you have an account, and tap Verify to allow WhatsApp to confirm the number that’s registered with your bank.
You’ll be redirected to the payments page after the verification, following which you can send and receive money from friends and family or pay registered businesses using WhatsApp payments.
Using payments in WhatsApp to send and receive money
Once you’ve enabled payments in WhatsApp, follow the steps below to send and receive payments in WhatsApp.
- Open the chat window of the contact you’re trying to send or receive payments from.
- Look for the currency symbol at the bottom next to the clip icon in the text field, and select it to open the payment page.
- You’ll now be able to switch tabs and choose to either send or receive money from the particular contact you’ve selected.
- In either case, simply enter the amount and select Next to proceed.
- You’ll be asked to authenticate your UPI PIN in case you’re sending a payment, so enter that to finish your payment.
- In case of requests, just enter the amount and proceed to request money.
And that’s how easy it is to send and receive money from your friends and family using payments in WhatsApp. This particular feature in Brazil is powered by Facebook Pay, with the credit and debit card operator Cielo handling payment processing. The steps involved in setting up payments for Brazil may be a bit different, but the overall process of sending and receiving payments will remain the same for the most part.
Using WhatsApp payments: Final thoughts
Using the payments feature in WhatsApp, as you can see, is quite simple. The UI is refreshingly clean and intuitive, with the main emphasis on peer-to-peer transactions. You also have the option to scan QR codes for paying merchants and businesses. It doesn’t replace a full-fledged app like Google Pay for me since I can’t use this to pay my bills yet, but it makes sending and receiving money from my contacts fairly simple.
It’s a shame that it’s limited to just India and Brazil at the moment. I wish it were available for more users across the globe, allowing me to send and receive payments seamlessly. Of course, it’s easier said than done, so let’s hope for the best and see if it expands to more regions.