Those addicted to Whatsapp – here are a couple of reasons to cheer. You will soon have access to two new features on the instant messaging app, that promise to make your life a little easier, without having to leave the app.
Making digital payments is going to be as easy as sending a Whatsapp message, if reports citing the Facebook-owned instant messenger’s expansion plans are to be believed. A report by Factor Daily states that Whatsapp is readying an in-chat payment feature by December.
According to the report, Whatsapp is introducing this payment feature in India first, and has apparently tied up with State Bank of India, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank to integrate it.
Sending payments will be as easy as sending a location or contact to another contact in Whatsapp.
The feature is likely to be a part of the attachment menu icon (paperclip) in the app. This feature is similar to what WeChat (a Whatsapp competitor) has already rolled out successfully in China.
Interestingly, even as Whatsapp works on rolling out payment through the app, PayTM just announced a tie up with BHIM UPI in a tweet – bringing the much needed feature to the digital wallet player.
The other big feature that would help a lot of people who send messages and then regret it, is the ‘delete-for-all’ feature that Whatsapp is working on. We have been hearing about this feature roll out for quite some time now.
Users will soon be able to delete a message that has been sent on Whatsapp, and that message will disappear even from the recipients phones.
This feature will apply even to group chats.
However, this feature comes with certain conditions. One will be able to use it only within seven minutes of sending a message and only then can a message be deleted. The recipient will still receive a notification though. The feature won’t work with quoted text and works only on fresh messages.
Still, that should be enough to save some embarrassments. The feature is being gradually rolled out across Android and IOS globally and should be available to users in India quite soon.
Also read: Paytm vs Google Tez vs BHIM: The Best Digital Payment App Is...
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)