How to Configure the WhatsApp Payment Solution

Friday, December 4th, 2020

You may think COVID-19 was the cover-up for a secret (yet apparent) technological revolution, but that’s a horrible place to go.

Still, it’s amazing how convenient it has been, with payment technologies almost meeting consumers and retailers at their point of need.

As consumers avoided cash for contact-free payment options, UPI-based services like Paytm, Google Pay, and others popularized, perhaps prompting Facebook to integrate a similar feature into its chat window. Users can now do P2P money transfers through the Facebook App.

But WhatsApp Payments is the latest rollout and quickly spreading among users. The popular chat platform is engineered to enable person-to-person money transfers specifically. With that in mind, it also helps to understand that it doesn’t allow bill payments or integrate with online shopping websites.

So how do you set up WhatsApp Payments?

The Preparation

In preparation, start by doing the following;

1. First, you want to ensure the WhatsApp number you use is connected to your bank account, and the account itself is in operation.
2. You also want to update to the latest Whatsapp app version regardless of your operating system, whether iOS or Android.

Now you are ready to set up Whatsapp Payments, here’s how to go about it.

Steps to Add Whatsapp Payments

1. Launch WhatsApp on your phone
2. Go to the top-right screen corner and tap on the three dots 
3. Go to payment options
4. Go to Add payment method
5. On the screen that appears, choose the Bank you wish to use
6. WhatsApp will autonomously collect the banking information for the account tied to the number
7. Tap verify by SMS to confirm bank account data
8.  Tap Done to finish

After successful setup, you can tap any chat window (belonging to a preferred recipient), go to the Link icon, and then select the Payment option. Next, key the amount of money you wish to transfer, and enter your UPI pin to confirm the transaction.

This new feature will certainly change the way consumers use WhatsApp which only began as a basic instant-chatting platform. WhatsApp Payments also allows instant transfer without the need for an e-wallet. 

The app is now available for both iOS and Android users and leverages the convenience of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) payment to enable a speedy person to person money transfer.