WhatsApp Payments service has been in the news for a while now as Facebook, the parent company of WhatsApp is battling privacy concerns for the service's rollout to its more than 200 million users in India. While WhatsApp is working hard with the Indian Government to begin the broader implementation, it's now said that the company will set up 24-hour customer service for the payments service. WhatsApp will provide the support through e-mails and toll-free number. "We will provide 24-hour customer support. Payments users can contact the support team via e-mail and a toll-free number (when the service is rolled out in India)," a WhatsApp spokesperson told PTI.
Furthermore, the report also added that WhatsApp would offer the support in four languages- English, Hindi, Marathi and Gujarati. However, there's no timeline on when WhatsApp will implement the customer support service in the country. Setting up a customer service team will benefit the users a lot because right now users have to get in touch with their respective banks if there's any transaction failure on WhatsApp.
Ahead of the full-fledged rollout, WhatsApp has also updated its terms of service and privacy policy for the payments service. The updated terms say that WhatsApp will "reflect the addition of payment interoperability features" to the users.
The spokesperson also confirmed that users could reach out to WhatsApp for any queries related to the payments service, but for the transaction-related issues, they've to get in touch with their banks itself.
The updated terms of service policy also states the same. "WhatsApp is not liable for unauthorised transactions. We assume no responsibility for the underlying transaction of funds, or the actions or identity of any transfer recipient or sender," WhatsApp added. As per the updated terms, WhatsApp will not be able to provide any cashbacks or refunds for a completed transaction.
Its been a while since WhatsApp is said to start the broader rollout of payments service in India. At the moment, the instant messaging company is testing out the feature with one million users, and India is one of the biggest markets for the company with over 200 million users. With WhatsApp Payments service, the company is gearing up for a battle with Paytm in India. The spokesperson also added that WhatsApp has worked closely with National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the Indian government and the bank partners on how the entire service works.
