76 Outlook Money March 2016 http://www.outlookmoney.com
The beta version of WhatsApp’s payment
feature is here. Read on to understand the
benefits and risksWhatsApp Pay convenient,
but security needs a boost
with WhatsApp For Business will
enable businesses to service and
conduct chat-based transactions
with customers on a single mes-
senger window. This utility that
can transform customer service,
one that a solely app-based pay-
ment player cannot provide.
Existing app-based payment
players are expected to retain
share in merchant transactions,
given the eCommerce ecosys-
tems developed around them,
but messenger-based apps have
an advantage in peer-to-peer
transactions, given the sheer vol-
ume of users on their platform.
However, some concerns such
as authentication via username
and password upon sign in—a
mandatory requirement under
UPI—needs to be addressed.
Prominent payment players have
raised concerns around devia-
tion from UPI guidelines of in-
teroperability, as transactions are
enabled only between users of
the WhatsApp platform. Since an
authenticated login and interop-
erability are mandated by the
National Payments Corporation
of India (NCPI) for a full launch,
the market is eagerly waiting to
see how the app will look
once WhatsApp launches a full-
scale rollout.T
he rapidly evolving e-
payment landscape in
India has a new entrant—
WhatsApp, owned by Facebook
Inc. The company claims 220+
million users in India alone,
making it a formidable player in
the peer-to-peer payment trans-
fer space.
WhatsApp, in partnership
with ICICI Bank, has based its
payment feature on the Unified
Payments Interface (UPI) and
has currently launched a live
beta testing of the feature to
a limited number of users.
This will allow users to initiate
instant bank-to-bank transfers
in the same way they transfer
photos, contacts, and files. All a
WhatsApp user needs for this is a
UPI PIN and a bank account that
supports UPI.
The setup is seamless and
within the beta app, a user can
go from registration to transfer
in seconds. Using the ‘Payments’
tab within the settings menu,
users need to verify their mobile
numbers via OTP and select from
around 80 UPI-supporting banks.
They then receive pre-populated
bank account details based on
their input of phone number,
and can verify the account by en-
tering their debit card informa-tion. Users can set up or enter their
UPI PIN, and initiate transactions to
anyone on their WhatsApp contact
list. The transaction details are post-
ed to the recipient as a WhatsApp
message, and real-time transaction
success or failure is notified.
This is expected to significantly
improve customer experience and
digital adoption in peer-to-peer
payments. For instance, the less
financially savvy people may find
multiple wallets and payment app
options confusing due to lack of
awareness about their features and
mechanism used for fund transfer
(wallets, UPI, BHIM, QR code, Aad-
haar pay, etc).
The messaging platform has also
released the WhatsApp for business
app which is presently only offered
to small and medium businesses
but awaited for large businesses.
WhatsApp payments in conjunctionSAchin Seth,
Partner, Financial Advisory,
Digital, Fintech & Innovation Leader, EYUsers can set up
or enter their UPI
PIN, and initiate
transactions to
anyone on
their WhatsApp
contact list