By Stanley Ugagbe
As part of efforts to diversify into financial technology, Facebook Inc’s WhatsApp messaging service has disclosed that it has launched its digital payment service which will allow users to send money to individuals or local businesses within a chat, attaching payments as they would a photo or video.
The Nigerian Canadian News gathered that the project, which had been under development for a while, was launched in Brazil in what can best be described as a trial phase.
Following the development, WhatsApp users in Brazil, which is one of South America’s biggest economies, now have the opportunity to pay for their transactions and send money across to loved ones, albeit securely
In a statement made available to newsmen, WhatsApp explained that simplifying payments makes it easier to “bring more businesses into the digital economy, opening up new opportunities for growth.”
It should be noted that the new WhatsApp payment feature is enabled by Facebook Pay which was launched last year. According to the company, the immediate objective is to make it possible for WhatsApp users to send money just as easily as they send messages.
In view of the development, Facebook hopes that users of its Facebook Pay (i.e., both regular users and businesses) can be able to seamlessly use their card information across the rest of Facebook’s sister companies, including Instagram.
The statement said “In addition, we’re making sending money to loved ones as easy as sending a message, which could not be more important as people are physically distant from one another. 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”.
We gathered that for now, the WhatsApp payment solution works in such a way that users would be required to have a unique six-digit pin, or better still use their fingerprint. This is a security measure that is intended to prevent unauthorized access by third parties.
Also, users would be required to link their WhatsApp to debit or credit cards. This will be done on either the Visa or Mastercard networks. Now, because this is a limited launch only in Brazil (for now), only debit or credit cards from the following Brazilian banks will work —Banco do Brasil, Nubank, and Sicredi.
In the statement, Facebook said it is also partnering with Cielo, a leading Brazilian payments processor.
The company said “To start, we will support debit or credit cards from Banco do Brasil, Nubank, and Sicredi on the Visa and Mastercard networks -and we are working with Cielo, the leading payments processor in Brazil. We have built an open model to welcome more partners in the future.”
Reports have it that the service is free for regular Brazilian WhatsApp users for now but businesses will be required to pay a processing fee before they can receive customer payments.
