WhatsApp beta shows early signs of UPI based payments integration

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Since demonetization, digital payments have been gaining more and more importance in India. Popular apps like Hike Messenger and Truecaller had recently introduced digital payments on their platforms.

Now, Facebook owned WhatsApp is soon going to launch UPI based payments in its app. UPI stands for Unified Payments Interface and it has been developed by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).

Recently, there have been many reports about popular messaging app WhatsApp launching digital payments with UPI integration. Till now, there has been no announcement from the company. Now, the payments system has been spotted in a beta version of the app. 

The UPI integration was spotted by WABetaInfo in the Android beta version 2.17.295. This feature is not visible publicly and is a hidden preview. The report adds that the feature is currently hidden and under development. It will take some time for the feature to be available for users.

The image, revealed by the blog says, “Immediate bank to bank transfer with UPI”. This is currently under testing in the Android beta version of the app. This feature will be opt-in only and users will have to agree to accept the “WhatsApp Payment Terms and Privacy Policy and Bank’s Terms and Privacy Policy”.

Facebook has already introduced digital payments in the Facebook Messenger in the US and is expected to launch it in India too. With simplified payments platforms like UPI gaining traction in popular apps and services in India, it is too big an opportunity to miss.

Another interesting aspect to note here is that popular payments service Paytm is being rumoured to launch its own in-app messaging system. This is expected to take WhatsApp head-on, with both the apps offering messaging and payments. It becomes even more interesting when you consider the fact that both the services have over 200 million users in India.