Soon you could send and receive money using WhatsApp, as the latest WhatsApp Beta version has started testing the Payment option. To put things in context, Paytm has 180 million users in the country, whereas Google Tez, another UPI-based payment application, crossed 12 million users in India past year four months after its launch.

According to commentators, the official launch of the feature would likely boost digital payments in India, considering the popularity of WhatsApp, but the competition for digital wallets is also likely to increase.

According to a TechCrunch report, the company is testing a new payments feature in the app's beta version in India that will allow people to send money to other WhatsApp users, excluding merchant accounts.

The payments feature is not visible in the WhatsApp settings for all users. WhatsApp has more than 200 million users in India. User can now choose from this list of banks the one to be linked to UPI.

Tapping on "Payment" takes you to the linking of your UPI account. Select payment to transfer funds to other accounts. Paytm has 180 million users in the country, while Google Tez, another UPI-based payment application, crossed 12 million users in India previous year.

Earlier in January, WhatsApp Business, a free-to-download Android app was rolled out for small businesses, in a bid to make it easier for approximately 1.3 billion users to chat with businesses that matter to them. But its launch is expected to happen soon on both Android and iOS platforms. At the moment it is not available for the final version of WhatsApp in India, but for those who have a beta version. But, there's no option to switch from video to audio call.

WhatsApp is also planning to launch a sticker packs on its app, as seen in the Facebook messenger application.