How to pay through WhatsApp using UPI? Here's how to enable WhatsApp payments

From formal communication at the office to talking with a childhood school friend, WhatsApp is something that we all use for everyday communication. But WhatsApp today is far beyond just personal and group communication, or seeing WhatsApp statuses. Today, with WhatsApp, you can also send money to your near and dear ones with just one tap. 

But, before you can get started with how to pay through WhatsApp, you first need to connect your bank account to WhatsApp, and the one you are sending money to should also enable payment through WhatsApp. That said, today I will basically talk about how to pay through WhatsApp, or get started with how to enable WhatsApp payments.

So, without any further delay let’s get started with how to pay through WhatsApp.

Prerequisites of WhatsApp payments

Payments on WhatsApp are backed by UPI by NPCI. So, your bank must offer this feature before you can get started. If you already send payments through Google Pay, PhonePe or other apps, you already have the service enabled on your account.

Furthermore, you must be using WhatsApp on the number that is registered with your bank, simply because WhatsApp will use your mobile number for setting up UPI payments on WhatsApp.

How to enable WhatsApp payments?

To get started, you first have to link your bank account to WhatsApp. Simply tap on the triple-dot icon on the top-right corner of WhatsApp, and tap on ‘Payments’.

On the payments page, tap on ‘Add payment method’.

On the next page, tap on ‘Continue’ to proceed further.

The next step is to select your bank. You can scroll down to search for the bank, or use the search tool to search for your bank.

Now, WhatsApp will send an SMS to verify the number. Simply tap on ‘Verify’ to go to the next step.

Once the verification process is complete, you are ready to transact, i.e. send and receive money through your bank account, using WhatsApp as a facilitator. 

Now that you have set up online payments through WhatsApp, let’s explore how to pay through WhatsApp now through different modes.

How to pay through WhatsApp through different methods?

There are several ways to send money through WhatsApp, just like other UPI apps have to offer. Let’s have a look at the most popular modes.

How to pay through WhatsApp to contacts?

Now that you have enabled WhatsApp payments, one of the most basic things you can try is, sending money to a contact. Here’s how you can do that.

Simply, tap on the conversation and open it to send money to that person. Here, tap on the ‘₹’ or the rupee symbol just beside the chat box to send money.

If the person is not using WhatsApp payments, you can either send an invite or send money to a UPI ID, which looks like an email address.

Otherwise, if the person is already using WhatsApp to make payments, you have to enter the amount that you want to send, which is pretty straightforward, add a note, which is optional, and even use a preferred background to make the transaction look special to the recipient.

So, that’s how to pay through WhatsApp. It is really convenient to send money on WhatsApp to near and dear ones, as we can easily keep an account on whom we are sending money, and most people have the most screen time on WhatsApp, making it the go-to app for making payments.

How to make merchant payments on WhatsApp? (Pay using QR codes)

Just like Google Pay, PhonePe, and other popular UPI apps, it is also possible to make merchant payments using QR codes, through the convenience of WhatsApp.

To get started, tap on ‘Payments’ from the triple-dot icon.

Here tap on ‘Scan payment QR code’ to open the camera and hence make a payment.

Just like other UPI apps, you can send money to any QR code that is capable of accepting payments. You don’t necessarily need a WhatsApp QR code to send funds. So, WhatsApp payments work just like another popular payment app that supports UPI.

Other things you can do with WhatsApp associated with payments

If you have multiple accounts in different banks, you can link all of them, and use your preferred account at the time of sending funds.

By tapping on ‘Payments’ from the triple-dot icon, tap on ‘Add payment method’ to add another account, just like you added the first account.

You can also tap on your account under ‘Payments’ to change your UPI pin, check your account balance, reset the UPI pin, and see other options.

Maybe due to inadequate marketing, improper timing of its launch, lack of incentives, and promotional offers to customers, when different other apps are already available in the space, WhatsApp payments didn’t garner enough traction despite being a comprehensive UPI app with all the necessary features.

Hope the tutorial on how to pay through WhatsApp was helpful to you, and that you can make payments easier with WhatsApp. Do you have any questions?  Feel free to comment on the same below.