WhatsApp, a Facebook-owned chat app, on Monday unveiled a payments service dubbed “WhatsApp Pay” to allow users to send money to one another for free or make purchases from small businesses.
According to WhatsApp, users in Brazil would be the first to be able to send and receive money using Facebook Pay.
“Payments on WhatsApp are beginning to roll out to people across Brazil beginning today and we look forward to bringing it to everyone as we go forward,” the company said.
“The over 10 million small and micro-businesses are the heartbeat of Brazil’s communities. It’s become second nature to send a zap to a business to get questions answered. Now in addition to viewing a store’s catalog, customers will be able to send payments for products as well,” the company wrote in a blog post.
WhatsApp users in Brazil can now send money to friends and family or pay a business right from your chat 💸💸💸 pic.twitter.com/BwrcCq9CJW
— WhatsApp (@WhatsApp) June 15, 2020
Sending money or making a purchase on WhatsApp will be free for people. However, businesses will pay a processing fee to receive customer payments, similar to what they may already pay when accepting a credit card transaction.
Payment processing will be facilitated by Cielo whose system will support debit or credit cards from Banco do Brasil, Nubank, and Sicredi on the Visa and Mastercard networks.
READ
