WhatsApp informed the possibility of in-app payments to its users in India which happens to be the largest market for the company also. Now, South Africa is following suit but with another angle.

While the first was a venture launched by the social media company itself, the move from SA is from a start-up by the name Ukheshe. Partnering with Infobip, this start-up brings payments closer to users, allowing them to pay to another user’s mobile number if they have them on their contacts list.

It should be noted that this is not the first implementation of receiving money via phone numbers. We have seen the concept with Paga and Eyowo from Softcom, but this a step further that allows contacts to disburse money on the chat platform itself.

Besides enabling peer to peer payments and making it more seamless, this also provides a good avenue for businesspeople who use WhatsApp for their trades to collect payments from interested customers better and faster. Instead of having to share a traditional account number all the time, the said customer could just pay via the vendor’s phone number and get it done.