Meta has announced that people across Brazil can now pay small businesses directly within a WhatsApp chat.
Meta believes that “this seamless and secure checkout experience will be a game-changer for people and small businesses looking to buy and sell on WhatsApp.” This is because it will allow people to buy and sell goods and services directly on the messaging service.
Shortly after Mark Zuckerberg announced WhatsApp payments, Meta rolled the feature out to a small number of businesses across Brazil. The company also announced that it is looking “forward to bringing it [payment options] to more types of businesses and countries in the future.
How do payments on WhatsApp work?
Now, on WhatsApp in Brazil, you can search for a business, browse goods and services, add them to your cart and make a payment all with just a few taps.
On the app, it’s now possible to pay for goods and services using Mastercard and Visa debit, credit and pre-paid cards issued by the numerous banks participating in the service.
Meanwhile, small businesses using the WhatsApp Business app can link a supported payment partner — such as Cielo, Mercado Pago or Rede — and create an order within the app to securely accept payments from their customers.
In order to ensure that payments are secure and transactions are safe, WhatsApp encrypts and securely stores all card numbers. Users are also required to create a Payment PIN and use it for each payment.
Why does this matter?
Although this WhatsApp payments trial is currently limited to a handful of businesses in Brazil, it’s clear from the company’s comments that Meta wishes to extend the feature across the country before launching it in new locations.
As a result, should the trial prove to be a success, it’s likely that the feature will be rolled out globally. This would be a game-changer for e-commerce businesses across the globe. This is because the feature makes it far simpler for small businesses to convert customers and complete transactions without ever leaving the app.