You can now send money, make payments over Whatsapp

Whatsapp has added an additional feature on its system enabling users to send money without leaving the chat room.

The service being rolled out in Brazil first will enable people to send money or make a purchase from a local business without leaving their Whatsapp chat.

“Today we are starting to launch payments for people using WhatsApp. We are making sending and receiving money as easy as sharing photos. We are also enabling small businesses to make sales right within WhatsApp,” reads an update on Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

“To do this, we're building on Facebook Pay, which provides a secure and consistent way to make payments across our apps. I want to thank all of our partners for making this possible.”

Zuckerberg said he is working with local banks in Brazil, including Banco do Brasil, Nubank, Sicredi as well as Cielo, the leading payments processor for merchants in Brazil.

WhatsApp tested the payment system in India beginning in 2018. The Brazil launch will be the first nationwide rollout and will introduce the ability to directly pay a business.

Whatsapp has over 120 million individual users in Brazil, its second-largest market behind India.
Many of Brazil's small businesses already use WhatsApp as a marketing tool to answer questions or send catalogs.

“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. Making payments simple can help bring more businesses into the digital economy, opening up new opportunities for growth,” reads a statement from Whatsapp
“Because payments on WhatsApp are enabled by Facebook Pay, in the future we want to make it possible for people and businesses to use the same card information across Facebook’s family of apps.”

The company said sending money or making a purchase on WhatsApp is free for people. Businesses will pay a processing fee to receive customer payments, similar to what they may already pay when accepting a credit card transaction.