Unified Payment Interface (UPI), launched on 11 April 2016, is an online payments system launched in India to allows multiple bank accounts belonging to any participating bank to be controlled via a single mobile app having number of banking features, facilitating seamless and secure fund transfer and merchant payments at a single platform.

Peer to Peer fund request and transfer has been introduced with the UPI using mobile app first time.

Now an upgraded version UPI 2.0 is launched in Mumbai by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) along with some banks and Reserve Bank of India members. RBI governor Urjit Patel, State Bank of India (SBI) chairman Rajnish Kumar and Nandan Nilekani, the non-executive chairman of Infosys who is also the innovation advisor at NPCI launched UPI 2.0.

NPCI controls all retail payments in the country, manages the UPI platform that facilitates instant fund transfer between two bank accounts on a mobile platform, without requiring details of the beneficiary’s bank account.

Existing Features of UPI

1. Instant money transfer facilitated 24×7 via any mobile device
2. Single aap can be used to access multiple bank accounts
3. Security of “Single Click 2 Factor Authentication”, which combines strong security and smooth access of a payment via a single click
4. Virtual address eliminating the need of providing card number, IFSC, account numbers etc. providing incremental security
5. The app lets one to share bill with friends
6. Single Application Merchant Payment and easier In-App Payments
7. Registering complaints directly via the Mobile App

New features of UPI 2.0

1. Linking of overdraft account: In new version, customers can link their overdraft account to UPI along with their savings and current account.
2. One-time mandate: Customers can pre-authorize a transaction and pay at a later date.
3. Invoice in the inbox: According to NPCI, this feature is designed for customers to check the invoice sent by merchant prior to making payment. It will help customers to view and verify the credentials and check whether it has come from the right merchant or not. Customers can pay after verifying the amount and other important details mentioned in the invoice.
4. Signed intent and QR: This feature is designed for customers to check the authenticity of merchants while scanning QR or quick response code. It notifies the user with information to ascertain whether the merchant is a verified UPI merchant or not. This provides an additional security. Customers will be informed in case the receiver is not secured by way of notifications, said NPCI.

As per NPCI, UPI 2.0 member banks as on date are State Bank of India (SBI), HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, IDBI Bank, RBL Bank, YES Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, IndusInd Bank, Federal Bank and HSBC.

As per Mint, BHIM UPI recorded transactions worth INR 45,845 crore and 235 million in terms of value and volume in the month of July 2018.

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UPI (Unified Payments Interface) enabled WhatsApp (acquired by Facebook) Payments feature is already live for beta users in India, however it is not rolled out for every WhatsApp user till now.

If this feature is rolled out for every WhatsApp users in India in coming days, then let’s know how to add banks/bank account to your WhatsApp, and how to send/receive money to your peers/friends and vice versa?

As reported, this feature is available on WhatsApp version 2.18.21 for iOS, and version 2.18.41 for Android.

The payment option uses the UPI interface, which is regulated by the Reserve Bank of India through its payment subsidiary NPCI (National Payments Corporation of India) – a regulatory body responsible for all retail payments in India.

Since WhatsApp is the peer-to-peer payment option, you can’t use this for merchant payments. Using this payment option i.e. UPI enabled WhatsApp, money will be directly debited from and credited to your account. Once your contact number is linked with the bank account and UPI, there is no need to enter the VPA (Virtual Payments Address) or bank account number or IFSC code. The same applies to your friends or peers in the WhatsApp group.

Requirement to do WhatsApp Payments

1. Latest version of WhatsApp app on your phone
2. Both sender and receiver should be running the latest WhatsApp version as well as have WhatsApp Payments option enabled
3. WhatsApp number should be same as your mobile number linked to your bank account with UPI option support as well

Linking Bank Account to WhatsApp Payments

1. Open WhatsApp
2. Tap on three dots on the top right corner
3. Tap on settings
4. Tap on “Payments” just below notification
5. On the next screen, tap on “ACCEPT AND CONTINUE”.
6. Verify your mobile number using SMS, tap on “VERIFY VIA SMS”.
7. App will send you an SMS and use the same and complete the verification process.

Now you will see a list of all UPI supported banks, bank name and the last four digits of your bank account.

1. Select your bank.
2. App will fetch details and show your bank account number. After this, you will see the message saying setup complete.

Change or delete bank account in WhatsApp Payments?

If you have multiple bank accounts and want to add, change or link another bank account then-

1. Open WhatsApp
2. Tap on the three dots on top right and tap on Payments
3. Tap on “add new account’ and you will see the list of banks
4. Once you select your bank account, it will fetch details and add the account
5. You can either set up this account as your primary account to send and receive payments or you can remove also
6. By tapping on bank, you will see the option of setting the bank as primary or secondary bank to receive or send payment

WhatsApp Payments – How to send money?

The best feature of WhatsApp Payments is that you can send money to your friends using individual chats, or you can send money to your friends in a group too as follows-

1. Open individual chat (to whom you want to send money)
2. Tap on the “Clip” icon and there you will find the option “Payment”, tap on it
3. If the receiver has latest WhatsApp version and bank account configured, you can enter the amount followed by a note (a message) and tap on the send button
4. It will ask you to enter 4 digits UPI pin
5. Once you enter and authenticate then the money will be sent
6. You will also get the details of the transaction from your bank as an SMS.

WhatsApp Payments – How to receive money?

As of now, this feature is not available, but it will be rolled out to all users in some time.

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