# WhatsApp Notifications

WhatsApp provides a more conversational way to communicate payment information. With its widespread use, WhatsApp notifications offer customers a user-friendly and familiar platform for receiving updates, especially in regions where the app is frequently used for business communications. 

Ottu empowers merchants to notify the customer via WhatsApp communication channels via two different ways:

* **Integrated WhatsApp Channel:** The WhatsApp communication channel automatically sends payment-related notifications to customers using their phone numbers. Integrated with Ottu’s [Payment Requests](https://docs.ottu.com/user-guide/plugins/payment-request) and [E-Commerce](https://docs.ottu.com/user-guide/plugins/e-commerce) plugins, it offers businesses a quick and flexible way to communicate, enhancing customer engagement through a popular platform. For more information, please check [Integrated WhatsApp Channel](https://docs.ottu.com/user-guide/communication-channels/whatsapp-notifications/integrated-whatsapp-channel) section.
* **Manual WhatsApp Channel:** The merchant manually notifies the customer via WhatsApp. Once the merchant initiates the WhatsApp notification process, they are redirected to the WhatsApp server where the pre-payment template is displayed, allowing the merchant to proceed with sending the notification. For further details, please refer to [Manual WhatsApp Channel](https://docs.ottu.com/user-guide/communication-channels/whatsapp-notifications/manual-whatsapp-channel) section.

{% hint style="info" %}
WhatsApp notifications are currently implemented only for [Payment Request](https://docs.ottu.com/user-guide/plugins/payment-request) and [E-Commerce](https://docs.ottu.com/user-guide/plugins/e-commerce) plugins, and are limited to pre- and post-payment states.
{% endhint %}