WhatsApp to introduce UPI Scan To Pay feature for easy in-app payments
WhatsApp offers UPI payments to its users in India and competes with other UPI apps like Paytm, Google Pay and PhonePe. However, the messaging app has been struggling to get more users to use its payment feature in the country, which may soon change thanks to an upcoming update.
The latest WhatsApp beta version for Android users gets a shortcut to the QR code for UPI payments, which may come to all users of the messaging app in the coming months.
Details of the upcoming feature have been shared this week by WeBetaInfo, who have also shared a screenshot of the messaging app where you can expect a QR code reader to appear on the chat screen.
“With the UPI QR code scanning feature integrated directly from the chat list, users no longer need to scroll through multiple screens or complete multiple steps to make payments,” the advisor says about the beta feature.
WhatsApp UPI QR Code Scanner Android Beta: How it works
WhatsApp Android beta version 2.24.7.3 offers a QR code reader shortcut, but only for certain users for now, the post suggests. You can see the QR code reader on the main chat screen in the same tab with the camera and search icon.
When you click on the QR code reader, WhatsApp reads the code to enable UPI payment from within the messaging app instead of going through multiple loops to send money to other UPI accounts.
When we implemented the payment feature on WhatsApp, we realized that the friction of paying users makes it less popular among them. With this UPI payment shortcut, it is likely that WhatsApp will have more people signing up for the service in India or wherever UPI is available.
UPI is one of the most popular digital payment methods in the country, with billions of transactions recorded every month. Most people rely on Google Pay and PhonePe to make these payments in the country, but WhatsApp already has a strong core of 400 million users and this UPI shortcut could finally give it a launchpad to succeed in this segment.
