Meta says Brazilian WhatsApp users can now use the messaging app to pay local businesses.
“This seamless and secure checkout experience will be a game-changer for people and small businesses looking to buy and sell on WhatsApp without having to go to a website, open another app or pay in person,” the social media company said on its blog Tuesday (April 11).
The feature was being launched Tuesday to a small number of businesses, with more expected to be added in the coming months, Meta said.
The new feature lets users pay for goods and services via Mastercard and Visa debit, credit and prepaid cards issued by the banks participating in the service.
“Small businesses using the WhatsApp Business app can link a supported payment partner — such as Cielo, Mercado Pago or Rede — and create an order within the app to securely accept payments from their customers,” the company said.
The launch came a little more than a month after Brazil’s central bank gave its approval to the launch of the service.
“We built an open platform with the participation of several Brazilian acquirers to ensure that the greatest possible number of companies and individuals have access to the service,” Guilherme Horn, head of WhatsApp Latin America, said in a post on LinkedIn at the time.
“This is important because we believe that paying people [and] businesses via WhatsApp will have a big impact for everyone, bringing ease and simplicity to users while helping small and medium-sized businesses increase their sales.”
WhatsApp began permitting users in Brazil to transmit money to friends, family and loved ones through its app in 2020. However, the functionality was put in limbo for a year after the country’s central bank raised concerns about the system.
In May 2022, it added a “Pay” button that is available directly on a user’s contact card, making it easier for them to do so.
“We’re always working on new ways to unlock the potential of payments on WhatsApp,” Stephane Kasriel, Meta’s head of commerce and financial technologies, said in an interview with PYMNTS last year. “By adding a Pay button to the contact card on WhatsApp, we hope to make sending payments even more intuitive.”
