These legal names are the names associated with the users’ bank accounts. They can be different from the profile names and will be displayed to the receiver. This change comes after the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) guidelines were set by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to crack down on payment frauds.
WhatsApp has officially confirmed the same on its website. As per the statement, this requirement is set by NPCI and designed to mitigate fraud across the UPI payments system. WhatsApp uses the phone number associated with one’s account to identify the bank account through UPI. The name associated with one’s bank account is the name that will be shared.
This change is applicable to both iOS and Android users. Until now, WhatsApp users could add the name of the sender by themselves which could include up to 25 characters, even emojis. But now, it is mandatory for all users to give the legal name which is on their UPI linked bank account to make the payment.
For the unversed, WhatsApp does not require them to have a digital wallet to make payments or receive money on the platform. The messaging app uses Unified Payments Interface (UPI), the same system that Google Pay, Phone Pay, BHIM, and various bank apps use. WhatsApp users can even make payments through other apps such as BHIM, Google Pay or Phone Pay.
Every day we send out a free e-mail with the most important headlines of the last 24 hours.
Subscribe now