WhatsApp introduces new payment backgrounds feature for its users in India

WhatsApp has announced that users in India can now add Payments Backgrounds while sending money to friends and family through the messaging app.

The Facebook-owned messaging app says that the feature will help people in conveying a feeling along with sending money.

Notably, the messaging app had first rolled out the payments feature in India in partnership with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). The real-time payment system enables transactions with over 227 banks.

Speaking about the feature, Manesh Mahatme, Director of WhatsApp Payments said, “WhatsApp is a safe space where people share their thoughts and feelings with their friends and family. With Payments Backgrounds, our effort is to bring excitement to everyday payments through WhatsApp and enable our users to express themselves if they wish, through a range of emotive themes denoting celebrations, affection, warmth, or fun. We believe that sending and receiving money is so much more than just a transaction. Often it’s the stories behind the exchanges that are priceless. We look forward to creating more features and functionalities and continue making payments on WhatsApp an interesting and interactive experience.”

WhatsApp said it has created a thematic range of artful expressions to complement sending payments on birthdays, holidays, or for gifts and travel. The company said the core idea of this feature update is to create a more personalized experience for the sender as well as the receiver by adding an element of expression when friends and family exchange money.

“Whether it is friends splitting the bill after a meal, sending money to near and dear ones as a token of your love, or gifting your sister on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan, payment backgrounds make sending money personal and brings alive the story behind every payment,” the company said.