the South Asian nation to add payments backgrounds when transferring funds through the platform. Describing the feature as ‘relevant and memorable’ the company noted that it enables people to convey a feeling along with the money.
“With payments backgrounds, our effort is to bring excitement to everyday payments through WhatsApp and enable users to express themselves 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,” WhatsApp Payments’ director Manesh Mahatme said.
The artful expressions, which were introduced to complementing fund transfers that are made in relation to birthdays, holidays travel or in the form of gifts, were designed in partnership with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). The company noted that the aim of this new feature is to create a more personalised experience for those who send or receive money through the platform.
“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 [a popular, traditionally Hindu ceremony] payment backgrounds make sending money personal and brings alive the story behind every payment,” the company said.
The payments feature on the mobile application allows transactions with more than 200 banks. According to Mahatme, the company hopes to introduce more features and functionalities, in order to make payments on WhatsApp an ‘interesting’ and ‘interactive’ experience.
