WhatsApp: Simpler Communities, Payments in India
Another new feature is included in the latest Android beta, which was sent out today to those who signed up for WhatsApp’s beta testing group on the Play Store. It’s designed to make it easier to create communities. Once the beta is complete and available to everyone, you’ll be able to create a new community from the Chats tab by simply clicking on the hamburger menu (the three dots) in the top right and then selecting New Community.
Clicking this button will also take you to create a new group, your starred messages, or settings, as you can see in the screenshot above. As for community creation, this addition basically saves you a tap, as you no longer have to go to the Communities tab first to create one. But the reason for this could also be the fact that the tab is being replaced by a new tab that will house the AI chatbots.
WhatsApp brings payments to India
India is by far the largest market for WhatsApp, with over 500 million users. So, it should come as no surprise that you often see new features there first. The next feature that is currently being worked on is the ability to pay bills directly from the messenger app without the need for any other service.
This discovery was made by analyzing an APK of the latest beta version of WhatsApp for Android. The feature allows for the settlement of utility bills, prepaid mobile recharges, LPG gas payments, water bills, landline bills, and rental payments. These categories are listed in the hidden code currently, but the list could expand either before the feature launches or shortly after.
Currently, Indians can use WhatsApp to send money to contacts and make payments to businesses via UPI. The bill payment system would be an extension of that. It is unclear when it will be launched, but if nothing goes wrong, you can expect to see it in the next few months.
About a month ago, India’s National Payments Corporation raised the maximum limit for users to register with WhatsApp Pay. This will now allow WhatsApp to offer financial services to all of its 500 million-plus users in India. The bill payment feature is expected to be part of an upcoming initiative to encourage Pay usage.
