WhatsApp reportedly testing person-to-person payments in India

Instant messaging platform WhatsApp is reportedly testing a new person-to-person payment feature for seamless transfer of funds.

According to a TechCrunch report, the company is testing a new payments feature in the app's beta version in India that will allow people to send money to other WhatsApp users, excluding merchant accounts.

WhatsApp has been working on support for a payments feature for some time, with support by State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, and Axis Bank.

Beta testers on twitter and other platforms stated that this functionality is live, and contains a large list of supported banks displayed in the WhatsApp user interface.

According to these users, a payments feature appears in the Settings menu of the app, which requires users to configure the feature by first verifying their phone number via SMS and choosing a bank. Following this, the option to send a payment is available from the main WhatsApp interface, in the same area where users share photos, videos, contacts or location into their chat session.

Earlier in January, WhatsApp Business, a free-to-download Android app was rolled out for small businesses, in a bid to make it easier for approximately 1.3 billion users to chat with businesses that matter to them.

The app will also help customers with useful information such as a business description, email or store addresses, and website.