Brazilian WhatsApp users can now directly pay businesses through chat. The app allows country residents to shop from discovery to payment. WhatsApp finally entered Brazil’s merchant payment market.
Mark Zuckerberg posted that WhatsApp will allow users to “pay local businesses right in a WhatsApp chat.”
“This seamless and secure checkout experience will be a game-changer for people and small businesses looking to buy and sell on WhatsApp without going to a website, opening another app, or paying in person. “We’re rolling out today to a small number of businesses and will be available to many more in the coming months,” the company announced.
WhatsApp Pay in Brazil allowed peer-to-peer transactions until now. However, regulatory restrictions prevented Meta from enabling merchant purchases. Shops could use a third-party payment service to generate a payment link and include it in a WhatsApp message, but this was a cumbersome process for both parties.
How many small businesses use WhatsApp is unknown. However, WhatsApp reported 5 million Brazilian businesses using it in 2020.
Last year, WhatsApp launched a yellow-pages-like “Dictionary” feature in Brazil to search for food, drink, and travel businesses. Users can search for businesses, add items, and pay the merchant in the app using these two features.
WhatsApp accepts Mastercard and Visa debit, credit, and pre-paid cards from “numerous” participating banks. In addition, businesses can accept these payments by integrating Cielo, Mercado Pago, or Rede. These firms established WhatsApp’s peer-to-peer payment infrastructure in Brazil.
Reliance Jio and the firm launched an end-to-end grocery purchasing experience in India. As a result, JioMart reported more WhatsApp shoppers.
Zuckerberg said Meta would focus on cost reduction and revenue growth in February. In addition, merchant payment services should launch nationwide with over 120 million WhatsApp users.
Brazil has aggressively accepted digital payments in recent years. Last year, over 124 individuals used Pix, a central bank-managed quick payment network.
