WhatsApp Reportedly Testing International Payments via UPI for Indian Users

WhatsApp could be working on enabling international payments via its in-app Unified Payments Interface (UPI) service, as per a new leak. WhatsApp Payments or WhatsApp Pay was first introduced for Indian users as an in-app service in November 2020. The platform’s entry into the payments sector was considered delayed as rival platforms were already established by then. Now, the popular messaging platform is tipped to add international payments with a limit of up to three months in order to boost the user base of its financial service.

The information about the feature was shared by tipster @AssembleDebug who said in a post on X (formerly known as Twitter), “International Payments on WhatsApp through UPI for Indian users. This is currently not available for users. But WhatsApp might be working on it as I couldn’t find anything on Google about it.” The tipster also shared screenshots of the feature but did not reveal which beta version added it.

In the screenshot, a new option can be seen in the Payments menu underneath the Forgot UPI PIN option. The tipped feature is labelled International payments and when clicked, it opens a separate screen where users can choose the start and end dates for the feature and turn it on. As per the screenshot, users will be required to enter the UPI PIN to turn on the feature.

International payments allow users with an Indian bank account to send money to select international merchants and complete transactions. The feature will only work in countries where banks have enabled international UPI services. In India, international payment via UPI automatically expires, after which it needs to be activated manually again. As per the tipster, this period in WhatsApp could be three months. In contrast, Google Pay offers a transaction period of seven days. Notably, Google Pay, PhonePe, and some other major players in the UPI space already offer the service.