Soon, banks may start to send you banking communications, such as ATM cash withdrawal details and point of sales (PoS) transactions, through the popular messaging application. At least five major banks are either testing or are in a pilot stage of sending communications through WhatsApp. Apart from alerts, banks are also exploring ways to let the customer reply.

To do this, banks will have to integrate with WhatsApp and appear as a verified account. Currently, the application has more than 200 million monthly active users in India, according to Bloomberg. “We are examining all aspects related to communication on WhatsApp, and will take a decision based on this,” said a spokesperson of the country’s largest lender, State Bank of India, in an email.

Two of the country’s largest private sector banks, ICICI Bank Ltd and Axis Bank Ltd, are also exploring the WhatsApp option to communicate with customers, according to two separate sources from each bank. Emails sent to both banks didn’t elicit a response. This month, Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd announced it was launching its banking services on a pilot basis on WhatsApp. So, if you are a Kotak Bank customer, you will be able to interact with the bank on its verified WhatsApp number about service requests, such as updating PAN, mobile number, and email id, and change of home branch. In April, IndusInd Bank Ltd announced a pilot project with WhatsApp to communicate with its customers. But for banks, using WhatsApp as a communication platform may not be as easy as it sounds.

Besides alerts, you will also be able to communicate with the bank. “It allows two-way communication with replies to customer messages and provides basic banking services, such as checking the balance and mini statements, reward points, and updating Aadhaar details through WhatsApp,” IndusInd Bank had said in a release. “The messaging on WhatsApp is being rolled out to customers in phases; however, customers can save the official WhatsApp number of the bank and initiate conversation.”