WhatsApp has brought some good news for its user as Facebook Inc., win a permit to operate its WhatsApp payments service in India, marking a breakthrough year for the tech giant.
WhatsApp pay can go live using the homegrown, multibank Unified Payments Interface, its operator, the National Payments Corporation of India, said in a statement Thursday.
Following the nod by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) for WhatsApp to go live on UPI in the multi-bank model Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that No fee will be charged when sending money via WhatsApp.
Speaking through a video statement, Mark Zuckerberg said that it will be supported by more than 140 banks.
“Now you can send money to your friends and family through WhatsApp as easily as sending a message. There’s no fee, and it’s supported by more than 140 banks. And because it’s WhatsApp, it’s secure and private too,” he said.
He further said that the payments will be available in 10 Indian regional language versions of WhatsApp.
“All you need is a debit card with a bank that supports UPI and you can set it up straight away. You can find it in the latest version of WhatsApp,” he said.
Adding another feature to the App WhatsApp said on Twitter “Starting today, people across India will be able to send money through WhatsApp Money with wings This secure payments experience makes transferring money just as easy as sending a messageâ€.
WhatsApp on Thursday finally launched its much-awaited “Disappearing Messages’ feature with a time limit of seven days before the message gets automatically deleted.
The feature is available for individual as well as group chats. However, in group chats, the group admins will be able to enable disappearing messages in group chats.
The Disappearing Messages feature is now official and will be rolled out to its 2-billion plus users during this month.
“That’s why we’re excited to introduce the option to use disappearing messages on WhatsApp. When the ‘disappearing messages’ feature is turned on, new messages sent to a chat will disappear after 7 days, helping the conversation feel lighter and more private,” it said in a statement.