Here is how WhatsApp Pay stacks up against Google Pay and PhonePe

• WhatsApp Pay is now officially live in India after receiving the nod from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
  
• While WhatsApp Pay is also a UPI-based payments service, it is different when compared to Google Pay and PhonePe.
  
• For now, WhatsApp Pay offers only peer-to-peer and UPI payments, while Google Pay and PhonePe provide an entire set of digital payment options.
  
• Check the latest news and updates on Business Insider.
  

WhatsApp Pay is now live in India after the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) gave it the green signal. With its 400 million user base, WhatsApp can easily take on its rivals Google Pay and PhonePe, even though they have a head start of nearly three years now.

WhatsApp has been testing its payments service for a long time in India now. It began testing in 2018, with 1 million users. Since then, WhatsApp Pay has been available for anyone who wanted to use it, but it has received the official nod only now.

We take a look at how all the three apps handle UPI payments and user experience.


WhatsApp Pay vs Google Pay vs PhonePe

One of the key differentiators between WhatsApp Pay, Google Pay and PhonePe is the payment flow.

Payment flow

While Google Pay and PhonePe are built from the ground up as payment apps, WhatsApp is purely a messaging app. This has a significant impact on the payment flow and related services offered by all the three apps.

For starters, WhatsApp is still the same, with no change in the design or the services offered by it. Messaging is still its primary focus.

Making a UPI payment using WhatsApp Pay is extremely simple, too. All you have to do is open the chat of the person you want to send money to, and click on the attachment button.

Select Payments, enter the amount and authenticate it using your UPI PIN. It’s that simple.

Google Pay and PhonePe also offer a simple payment flow and let you message your contacts as well. However, they are first and foremost payment apps, which reflects in the design.

Additional services

On Google Pay and PhonePe, you can also make bill payments, do recharges, transfer money to bank accounts, and for some reason, even play games.

Additionally, Google Pay and PhonePe also have cashback offers and rewards to keep users hooked on to their services.

In contrast, WhatsApp focuses purely on peer-to-peer payments. It’s great if you want to send money to your family, friends and other contacts, but its usability doesn’t extend beyond that.

Language support

All the three apps offer support for several Indian languages, apart from English. Here’s how they stack up in this regard:

• WhatsApp - 10 Indian languages.
  
• Google Pay - 7 Indian languages.
  
• PhonePe - 10 Indian languages.
  

Offering support for Indian languages can help these apps enhance their reach.

Why WhatsApp Pay?

This is a tough question and highly subjective, too. WhatsApp comes with a universal appeal, making sense to have a peer-to-peer payments system that leverages UPI.

However, both Google Pay and PhonePe offer peer-to-peer payments and a lot more, too. From bank transfers to balance checks, bill payments, recharges, buying digital gold, and more, they offer an entire digital payment ecosystem.

WhatsApp Pay is rudimentary in its current form. While this may seem unattractive to some, its simplicity could help it succeed.

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