Android beta’s WhatsApp Payments has begun providing a new feature, which enables users to request money from their contacts. The ‘Request Money’ feature is available on the Android beta version of the messaging app, meanwhile, users on its regular Android version won’t be able to see it yet.

The feature is still being beta-tested, and WhatsApp Payments is currently available in India also. The payments concept is UPI-built. It allows for funds to be directly transferred through the bank account. The user should have a UPI id linked to their bank account.

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UPI is also known as the Unified Payments Interface.

UPI payments need SIM authentication to work, and a user’s mobile number should be linked to their bank account. The same mobile number should be used with their WhatsApp account so that the UPI feature works.

UPI-based payments apps like Google Tez and Paytm already have the feature to request money from contacts. It requires a UPI ID to be entered or a QR code to be scanned, to facilitate the payment. WhatsApp has recently enabled the scan QR code, enter UPI ID feature for payments. It is available for Android and iOS as well. The amazing aspect of this new feature is that the other user doesn’t need to be on WhatsApp and could just have a UPI id with another app. This feature in WhatsApp Payments’ will let users request money from their contacts. The existence of this feature was first reported by Telecom Talk.

To request money from someone in your contact list through WhatsApp Payments’, a user needs to go to Settings>Payments>New Payment. In New Payment, the user will need to choose from the UPI ID or Scan QR code (which is on top), followed by a list of contacts. The user needs to choose either Scan QR code or UPI ID. After that, the user will be shown two options– Request Money or Send Money (next to each other). The option to request money from a contact is valid for only 24 hours. Once the request gets accepted, the money will get credited instantly to the user’s bank account. WhatsApp will also show a list of payment requests in its Payment Settings, and the status of these requests.

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WhatsApp Payments’ has come under a lot fire due t it not supporting all the UPI-based features like interoperability, which allows users to make payments to a UPI ID or via a QR code. Now the company has slowly started providing all these features. It is still on beta-testing but users who have this feature can notify their friends (who might not be having this feature) to activate it on their WhatsApp accounts.