WhatsApp's beta business services

businesses messaging services which rolled out for beta testing in India recently, gained its first client in online ticketing giant BookMyShow today. WhatsApp which has more than 200 million strong Indian users started testing the new business platform a few days ago.

As per a report on Factor Daily, BookMyShow on Thursday said that it had started working with the WhatsApp team. The ticket booking website sent users confirmations on WhatsApp for booked tickets after which one of its users took to Twitter to post a screengrab. “We will use this chat to send your ticket confirmation,” BookMyShow’s WhatsApp message read. “To stop receiving messages from us, please reply with ‘Stop’.”BookMyShow became one of the first clients of the messaging service to sign up for the business platform, having their account verified by a tick badge which Twitter and Facebook users are familiar with.

“We will use this chat to send your ticket confirmation,” read BookMyShow’s WhatsApp message to the user. The feature did come with an option to disallow any spam by further adding, “To stop receiving messages from us, please reply with ‘Stop’.”

What could worry users, however, is the fact that the move could be a disguised attempt by the Facebook-owned entity at discontinuing an ad-free version of the chat service.

An earlier report also mentioned how verified business accounts on WhatsApp can be of more use for both small and medium sized business. The service could be helpful cut costs in sending service SMS messages via third-party services that businesses often pay for. These can now be sent directly to customers via their WhatsApp accounts.

Whether it's a PIN for banking transaction, a code for two-factor authentication or a message for a delayed flight, businesses will soon be able to spend less on sending SMS messages to customers and do it for free via WhatsApp instead.

WhatsApp has not revealed a date yet for the official launch of the service. But as more and more news is starting to pour in, it could be official pretty soon.