After facing several hurdles for years, WhatsApp rolled out UPI-enabled WhatsApp Pay in India last November. However, the payments service never really managed to take off in terms of active users. In fact, we reported earlier this year that the transaction volume dropped from 0.81 million in December to 0.56 million in January. As of writing this article, the figures have further decreased to 0.47 million this July. In an attempt to increase user adoption, WhatsApp is now testing a payment shortcut with beta testers.
As spotted by WhatsApp tipster WABetaInfo, the messaging giant has started testing a new Payment shortcut in the chat window with beta version 2.21.17.19. While the feature was previously available once you expand the chat options menu, the new change improves the visibility of the feature. The WhatsApp Pay shortcut is present right next to the camera and microphone buttons.
