Telegram users can now convert their personal account to business account: Here's how

Telegram has announced a new feature to compete with the rival app WhatsApp. The new feature allows users to convert their personal account into a business account, enabling them to get business-centric features. However, users will have to pay a monthly fee to keep their business account running.

Telegram Business users can enjoy these benefits

Telegram users who convert their personal account to a business account can unlock the ability to display opening hours and the location of their business. They will also be able to organize chats with colour labels. Further, business accounts will be able to send automatic greetings akin to WhatsApp Business. Users will also be able to see shortcuts for quick replies, helping them save time.

The messaging app’s founder Pavel Durov announced the feature earlier this week and made the following statement – “Telegram Business accounts will be able to seamlessly add chatbots as their invisible secretaries to respond to all or certain chats. With AI, these chatbots can bring customer service automation to an entirely new level.”

Telegram’s rival app WhatsApp already has a similar feature dubbed WhatsApp Business. The platform has over 200 million monthly active users. WhatsApp Business also offers almost similar features and is meant for small as well as large-scale businesses. Last year, the platform crossed 200 million monthly active users.

Here’s how it will work

Coming back to Telegram, the feature will gradually reach users this month. However, it won’t be free like WhatsApp Business. Instead, the feature is locked behind a paywall. That said, users will have to pay a monthly fee. Once the feature is available to you, all you need to do is subscribe to the business feature to get all the aforementioned benefits.

It is worth noting that Telegram also has its Premium subscription plan that unlocks a slew of features such as unlimited cloud storage, faster downloads, animated profile pictures, and more.