WhatsApp adds rupee symbol to chats for faster access to payment capability

Says camera icon in chat composer now lets users scan any QR code to enable paying at over 20 mn stores in India

WhatsApp on Thursday said it has begun including the rupee symbol in its chat composer to make sending payments using WhatsApp easier for users in India.

WhatsApp also announced that the camera icon in the Composer now lets users scan any QR code to enable paying at more than 20 million stores in India.

The firm announced these updates at the Global Fintech Festival on Thursday.

The Facebook-owned messaging service received approval from the National Payments Corporation of India to take Unified Payments Interface (UPI) live in a phased manner, in November last year.

The payment facility through WhatsApp had been in the testing