Social messaging platform WhatsApp on Tuesday said its users in India will be able to add Payments Backgrounds while sending money to friends and family.

Built for India, this new feature is relevant as it helps people easily convey a feeling along with sending money, the company said in a statement.

“Designed in partnership with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), on the Unified Payment Interface (UPI), the payments feature on WhatsApp is an India-first, real-time payment system that enables transactions with over 227 banks,” it said.

Conversations involving payments are often imagined to be simply transactional. WhatsApp has created this thematic range of artful expressions to complement sending payments on birthdays, holidays, or for gifts and travel.

The core idea of this feature update is to create a more personalised experience for the sender and receiver by adding an element of expression when friends and family exchange money, it said.

“WhatsApp is a safe space where people share their thoughts and feelings with their friends and family. With Payments Backgrounds, our effort is to bring excitement to everyday payments through WhatsApp and enable our users to express themselves if they wish, through a range of emotive themes denoting celebrations, affection, warmth or fun,” Manesh Mahatme, Director of WhatsApp Payments said.

Whether it is friends splitting the bill after a meal, sending money to near and dear ones as a token of love or gifting on the occasion of Rakshabandhan, Payment Backgrounds makes sending money personal, he said.

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