WhatsApp launches in-app Stickers in payments, with 5 Indian Women Artists .
Today, WhatsApp introduced a range of stickers to make sending payments on WhatsApp to friends and family even more exciting and colorful. Designed for India, these new illustrations are built on various cultural expressions related to money exchange.
Manesh Mahatme, Director of Payments, WhatsApp India said, “We believe that there’s a story behind every payment. Our aim is to onboard the next 500mn to the digital payments ecosystem and drive financial inclusion at scale. Hence, in line with our continuous endeavour to make sending money relatable and relevant for every user, we have collaborated with 5 accomplished women artists, rooted in India’s evolving culture, to bring alive some of the popular phrases and societal nuances that express payments experiences in a fun and compelling way.
To translate expressions of love, care, gratitude, blessing and joy into fun animated illustrations, WhatsApp collaborated with five celebrated Indian women artists/illustrators to exclusively launch this new pack of Payments stickers for its users in India. These artists together, bring to life the true essence of exchange of love on WhatsApp, that translates into exchange of money, sometimes. Furthermore, these sticker packs celebrate the Indian culture and the women artists behind their curation, and the community of illustrators who bring alive stories through their signature art forms.
Throughout the expanse of our country, with varied people, across geographies and languages, our attempt is to build as many personalised and exciting features that give our users reasons to celebrate digital payments. Relatable expressive content such as Stickers is a powerful way to democratize payments, beyond any language barriers. As we go forward, we will continue to build more options and features for people to express their payments journey as they like.”
The artists that we have collaborated with to launch these sticker packs are as follows:
- Anjali Mehta an artist and illustrator known to find her inspiration from human psychology, travelling and photography. Her payments on WhatsApp stickers are called,‘Pyaar aur Payments’ and as the name suggests, it is a celebration of affection behind payments. [Check out Anjali’s sticker pack here]
- Anuja Pothireddy is an avid sketch artist and gif curator. Her payments on WhatsApp stick pack is called,‘Pay OK Please’; drawing on the popular Indian meme of ‘Horn OK Please’ – that’s easily seen behind trucks and auto rickshaws across the expanse of our country, this sticker pack aims to convey the stories of pleasant experiences around payments. [Check out Anuja’s sticker pack here]
- An independent illustrator and muralist, Neethi, loves drawing all things dreamy, inspired by nature and life. She has brought alive her signature bright colored pattern induced art for WhatsApp in the form of ‘Pay Aadha or Zyaada’sticker pack; a fun and whacky take on what payment experiences can be for people. [Check out Neethi’s sticker pack here]
- Illustrator and artist Osheen Silva is known to look at art through the lens of surrealism and fiction. Her payments on WhatsApp sticker pack is called ‘Sabse Bada Rupaiya’, that draws on the popular colloquial phraseology in the Indian context. [Check out Osheen’s sticker pack here]
- Mumbai based graphic designer, Mira Felicia Malhotra finds her inspiration from DIY culture, indie music, gender and mental health. In her signature colorful, humourous, bold and witty style, she has created payments on WhatsApp sticker pack called, ‘Apna Sapna Money’, thus expressing the aspirational dream theme that millions perhaps articulate everyday. [Check out Mira’s sticker pack here]
Stickers (and emojis alike!) have a language of their own and help people find new ways to express their moods, reactions and experiences. Whether you wish to contribute your split for dinner with friends, celebrate the credit of your salary or express the joy of receiving blessings (shagan) from your relatives–there is a sticker to express each of these special moments with your loved ones.
WhatsApp is committed to enhancing user experience while sending and receiving money through its payments feature. After the great success of the Payments’ expressive backgrounds, these new sticker packs add to celebrating emotions, with telling the story behind every money exchange through payments on WhatsApp.
Here is how you can use stickers while sending money to friends and family on WhatsApp.
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