WhatsApp Business to Mint Money with Service Charges, Pros and Cons

Facebook acquired WhatsApp, the largest instant messaging app in India with more than 200 million subscribers, in January officially launched its whatsapp business app. The app was primarily aimed to make the process of communication easier for the small businessman.

Many large scale enterprise including Bookmyshow, Oyo, GoIbibo, MakeMyTrip integrated WhatsApp enterprise solution to increase the customer engagement and experience.  But now it seems, the company is in no mood to offer free services.

The company has made an announcement that soon it will charge for the services offered. Businesses will be charged a fixed amount for sending non-promotional messages or notifications like flight tickets, movie events, products purchased online etc. At the same time, the customer will directly be able to interact with the company regarding their grievances, doubts and other requirements.

Whatsapp Business charges and benefits

The amount is not yet decided but according to the Reuters report the company will charge anything in between 0.5 cents to 9 cents per message depending upon the country. Though nothing has been officially confirmed yet, but in India the company will charge Rs 5-6 per promotional message.

The main benefit of using this app is the message delivery can be easily confirmed. Moreover, by charging the amount for the messages delivered, the cost of Indian startups will further improve.

Can you save money?

There are two ways to create a business profile on WhatsApp. One is the conventional way, download the app through the Google Play Store and another is to get yourself registered to API. Once you have registered yourself for API, you will be eligible for money saving tricks.

For example, the company has developed a way through which the companies need to respond to the customers within 24 hours of sending messages otherwise the next message will be charged additionally. This is done to ensure that the companies respond promptly.

It seems finally WhatsApp have found the way to mint money, isn’t? though with free business services the company created a rage, but this time we have to wait and see how it will pick interest among the businessman and customers.