The Central Bank of Brazil approved on Thursday that Meta provides payment services to small and medium-sized enterprises in Brazil through the instant messaging application WhatsApp. The new service builds on WhatsApp’s existing native peer-to-peer payment system.
Meta is currently testing corporate messaging services through the Brazilian market. This new line of business is becoming more important as growth in Meta’s core advertising business stalls.
Since 2021, WhatsApp users in Brazil have been able to make payments and transfer money between users through the app. The new service approved this time has cleared the way for merchants to collect payments.
“Soon, WhatsApp users will be able to use MasterCard and Visa debit and credit cards within a conversation to purchase products and services directly,” said Guilherme Horn, head of WhatsApp Latin America, on LinkedIn. .”
“People will be able to pay small merchants on WhatsApp,” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg also said on his Instagram broadcast channel shortly after the central bank’s approval.
