WhatsApp Pay in Malaysia: how to send and receive money

Did you know that you can actually send and receive money on WhatsApp? Similar to WeChat Pay, WhatsApp Pay works to enable in-app money transfers to ease peer-to-peer (P2P) payments and, more importantly, complete business transactions in the chat. Find out how to use WhatsApp Pay in Malaysia below!

How WhatsApp Pay works

WhatsApp Pay is launched to make payments “as easy as sending a message”. 

It works differently in various countries:

• United States: through a digital wallet called Novi, originating from WhatsApp’s parent company, Meta

• India: via a Unified Payment Interface (UPI)

• Brazil: through Facebook Pay, also known as Meta Pay

To set up this payment feature on WhatsApp, users will only need to

1. Tap on ⋮ (the three vertical dots) at the top right corner

2. Select “Payments”

3. Tap on + (the plus button) next to Facebook Pay or “Add payment method”

After that, depending on your geographical location, you will be prompted to choose a bank to link to your WhatsApp account or set up Facebook Pay by entering personal and business details to initiate or receive payments on WhatsApp.

Don't see any of the above? That's because it's not in Malaysia yet. But hey, don't give up on this idea too soon!

While this feature is only available in the US, Brazil, and India, did you know that there are actually other ways to pay and get paid on WhatsApp without switching apps? The transaction fee is even lower than that of WhatsApp!

WhatsApp Pay alternative for businesses in Malaysia to sell on WhatsApp

SleekFlow's payment link feature will reach Malaysia in September 2022.

Meta has announced the WhatsApp Pay features to be rolled out in many other countries, but they did not specify the exact timeline. Although Facebook Pay is readily available in Malaysia, but no one's really using it, and we have no idea when WhatsApp Pay will be here.

So, if you’re looking to receive payments from customers for your business in Malaysia, why not try generating a payment link in the chat as an alternative to WhatsApp Pay?

Many of you may not know that other than WhatsApp Pay, sellers can actually opt for third-party solutions to allow WhatsApp in-app payments. Instead of waiting indefinitely for the feature to arrive in Malaysia, you can choose to be ahead of other businesses to stand out from competitors. Using the payment link in WhatsApp for Business, you can politely encourage the customers to pay instantly. Merchants will no longer have to wait for the customers to initiate the payment when selling on WhatsApp. 

Benefits of WhatsApp in-chat payment

Top-notch security

Whenever a new method of payment is introduced, the first thing most people ask is normally about its safety. On SleekFlow, the payment feature is partnered with Stripe, the most popular payment gateway and a Level 1 PCI Service Provider, to offer secure processes and financial services. All card numbers are encrypted at rest, and Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) compliance is guaranteed.

Higher conversions with fewer usability issues

Before social commerce was introduced, the online shopping experience was much more complicated where users needed to be redirected from different websites or apps multiple times.

According to a survey by Baymard Institute, 17% of online shoppers abandoned their carts because there was a “too long/complicated checkout process”, while another 13% of them abandoned their checkouts because the website had errors or crashed. In other words, this 30% of online shoppers would have completed their purchase if not for these usability issues.

In fact, research showed that 35.36% of the conversion rate, which can amount to $260 billion worth of lost orders, could be recovered with an improved checkout flow and design. Therefore, by allowing for the full shopping process to be carried out in the chat on WhatsApp for Business, including the in-app payment, you’re saving the consumers a lot of hassle and trouble of suffering technical issues, which will very likely lead to more boosted conversions and revenue.

Avoid late payments

Getting customers to settle their accounts can be frustrating. They may promise to pay verbally, through emails, texts, or calls, but they might still end up delaying the task.

Often, our clients are too busy to sit down and go through the process of logging into their bank accounts or taking out their credit cards and filling in the details every time a business transaction is completed.

To minimise the possibility of this situation, companies must ease the whole payment process for these clients. The easier it is to pay, the more likely it is for them to buy more and pay instantly.

“We are delighted to collaborate with Lotus’s to help elevate the customer experience as well as cater to their diverse customer’s payment preferences. The partnership is timely as the shift in consumers’ shopping habits propelled by the demand for contactless payment has placed digital payments from being a ‘nice-to-have’ capability to a must-have essential service today. - Kevin Lee, CEO of GHL Malaysia

Lotus’s Malaysia allows customers to order, pay, and collect via WhatsApp

Lotus’s Malaysia, once known as Tesco Malaysia, is an omnichannel retailer that has surged ahead with its ‘Order & Collect’ service on WhatsApp since the end of 2021. It is a good example of learning how to sell on WhatsApp.

Powered by e-GHL, the unlimited orders placed on WhatsApp can be paid through cards, e-wallets, and online banking directly in the chat. Other than attracting more customers, this swift and hassle-free in-chat payment method has allowed Malaysian shoppers to maintain physical distancing before the COVID-19 endemic and now enables busy office workers, the elderly, chronic patients, and the disabled community to shop for necessities with ease and convenience. 

The whole process only takes 6 simple steps:

1. Send a WhatsApp message to the preferred branch of Lotus’s.

2. A personal shopper will reply as you send your name, contact number, email address, Lotus’s account, and payment method (in-store payment can also be made if desired).

3. The personal shopper assigned to you will contact you to substitute unavailable items.

4. Once the order is confirmed, an online payment link will be sent to you.

5. Just complete the payment and send the receipt to your personal shopper.

6. Lastly, your order is to be collected by 6 pm through one of the following methods:

• Self-collect through a dedicated counter in store

• Drive-thru pickup

• Third-party delivery using services such as Lalamove, GoGet etc.

As you can see from above, the comprehensive shopping experience can be completed all in the WhatsApp chat. 

Learn how to incorporate omnichannel marketing successfully like Lotus’s Malaysia.

Create and accept payment in WhatsApp with SleekFlow

SleekFlow, constantly striving to help businesses, especially retail and O2O businesses, sell, support, and convert better in the chat, acknowledges the criticality of WhatsApp Pay in completing the comprehensive social commerce experience.

From marketing, managing enquiries and allowing customers to explore products using WhatsApp catalogues to checkout and instant payment, every step and decision along the way contributes to the highly desired smooth, frictionless path to purchase. 

Using this newly launched in-chat payment feature, which is set to reach Malaysia in the end of 2022, SleekFlow’s e-commerce solution is now more extensive and thorough. Together with other features such as WhatsApp blast messages, native Shopify integration, automation and chatbots, the overall revenue and productivity of your business can be explored to the fullest potential.

Further reading: blasting messages through WhatsApp marketing

Leveraging technological innovations such as tools on WhatsApp for Business may take time, but it does not have to be difficult or costly. With good budget planning, the returns generated over time will show speed, efficiency, and quality.