You can finally send money through WhatsApp in India

• WhatsApp has finally gotten a nod from National Payments Corporation of India to make its payment offering live in India.
• The messaging app stated in a blog that it will be working with five leading banks in India including ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, the State Bank of India and Jio Payments Bank.
• Its payment feature has been rolled out in 10 Indian regional language versions of WhatsApp.

You will finally be able to send money through Facebook Inc’s messaging service WhatsApp in India. WhatsApp made the announcement on its blog after NPCI that operates the UPI payment infrastructure, gave its go-ahead to WhatsApp for its payment feature using UPI.

“WhatsApp designed our payments feature in partnership with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) using the Unified Payment Interface (UPI), an India-first, real-time payment system that enables transactions with over 160 supported banks. We’re excited to join India’s campaign to increase the ease and use of digital payments, which is helping expand financial inclusion in India,” read its statement.

WhatsApp's payment feature has been rolled out in 10 Indian regional language versions of WhatsApp. To send money on WhatsApp in India, one needs to have a bank account and debit card in India. WhatsApp will send instructions to banks that initiate the transfer of money via UPI between sender and receiver bank accounts. “We’re delighted to be working with five leading banks in India: ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, the State Bank of India, and Jio Payments Bank. People can send money on WhatsApp to anyone using a UPI supported app,” read the statement.

Payments on WhatsApp will be available for people on the latest version of the iPhone and Android app.