For many businesses, requesting payments is a regular part of operations, whether you're selling products or services. Traditionally, email has been the go-to channel for sending invoices. However, the business landscape is rapidly evolving, becoming more casual and conversational, thanks to the rise of social media platforms like WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. In this shift, WhatsApp has emerged as a prime channel for business communication, boasting a global audience of over 2 billion monthly active users and processing 596.6 million messages daily.
So why not leverage this widely-used platform to request payments? With Mteja’s WhatsApp API, businesses can now send invoices and request payments in a fast, direct, and efficient way. The API supports multiple file formats—documents, images, videos—making it ideal for sending invoices and transaction details to your customers.
Let’s walk through how you can send invoices and payment requests using the WhatsApp API:
Step 1: Creating a Template
To send messages via WhatsApp, businesses must use pre-approved templates for initiating conversations. Templates allow for structured, customizable messaging, ensuring compliance with WhatsApp's policies.
Read this article for more information about WhatsApp templates.
Here’s how to create a WhatsApp template:
Login to your dashboard.
From the main menu, click on Channels.
Select WhatsApp Numbers.
If you don’t have a WhatsApp number, reach out to support to get one.
Find your number in the table and click on Templates.
Click Create New. Review the templating guidelines, then click Next to start crafting your template.
For our scenario, we’ve created a template named spare_duka_invoice, which contains:
Header: A component with the PDF invoice.
Body: A message that includes the order number and a prompt for the customer to make payment.
Button: A call-to-action button linking to a payment webpage.
Step 2: Sending the Invoice
With your template ready, you can now send invoices to your customers. For example, if you sell automotive spare parts, you can use the template to send invoices to clients who’ve made a purchase.
Here’s how to send the invoice:
Simply send a request to the WhatsApp Broadcast API Endpoint with the following request body:
NB: You will need to provide a link to the document you wish to send.
For detailed instructions on sending a template message, check out our API documentation.
That’s It!
Your customers will now receive their invoices directly on WhatsApp, along with a convenient payment button to complete the transaction with just a few taps. It’s quick, simple, and leverages the power of a platform your clients are already using daily.