If you are an Axis Bank customer, you can now send Money via WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, SMS and email to anyone in your contact list.

That’s right; Ping Pay from Axis Bank is the latest addition to the list of payment apps from banks, recent ones being Pockets from ICICI Bank and Chillr from HDFC Bank.

The initial announcement was made 2-3 weeks ago, but the app wasn’t available on the Play Store back then and I forgot about it. When I checked back some days ago, it was, although it seems Android-only for now.

Setting up the app was fairly simple once the mobile number was entered and OTP verified. The same M-Pin as that for the bank account is used to log in once authentication is done. The only crib was having to tap the ‘Enter / Return’ key on the keypad each time to confirm an action, as there was no other way to confirm input. Seemed a bit archaic.

As the blurb on their site says,

“Ping Pay is a multi-social payment app from Axis Bank that lets you send or ask for money and mobile recharge across Facebook, Whatsapp, Twitter, SMS or e-mail. And everytime you send or ask for money or recharge, say whatever you have to say to your friends through videos, voice notes, images, or customized messages. So now everytime you have to send or ask for money, simply #PingPayKaro!”

To send or receive money using Ping Pay, select a contact + connect mode, mention the amount to be transferred. The receiver gets a link, after which he/she should download Ping Pay and enter bank details to receive the money. However, the caveat here is that sending money or recharge is available only to Axis Bank customers. Non-Axis Bank customers can receive money or recharge as of now. Secondly, the receiver’s bank has to be IMPS-enabled.

Simple enough, but when it came to actual use, the interface was quite confusing without knowing what to do next before I figured out at that one needs to long press the ‘Money’ or ‘Recharge’ button as the case may be, and then move it Up or Down depending on whether money has to be sent or received.

The per day, per transaction limit for transferring funds via Ping Pay as of now is Rs.50,000. Secondly, the app can only be used on one device with one mobile number.

Not everyone would be keen to download multiple apps just to send and receive money. With each bank coming up with their payment apps, it will be interesting to see their stats and stickiness six months down the line. There are several bank-agnostic payment apps and wallets that consumers are already using, not just to transfer money but also make purchases and avail of discounts/cashbacks. Personally, I’m already sensing a degree of fatigue with the plethora of payment apps and wallets around.

Ping Pay is presently available for download on the Play Store and is expected to be on the App Store soon as well.

This post, Send money via WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, SMS, email, was originally published at Atul Karmarkar.Com