“There are no more regulatory obstacles to carrying out purchase transactions with credit, debit and prepaid cards via WhatsApp”, said the financial institution.
The WhatsApp instant messaging application has finally managed to fulfill its commitment to join the digital payment system in Brazil.
Now, platform users will be able to make purchases through it, after the Central Bank of that country approved this type of transaction under the Facebook Pay program, which is the name of the project that allows commercial exchanges on the mobile program.
“There are no more regulatory barriers to carry out purchase transactions with credit, debit and prepaid cards through WhatsApp. This new functionality adds to the transfer of funds between users of this application, authorized in March 2021”, said the bank central. Brazil in contact released late this Thursday afternoon.
The above is part of a context in which the Monetary Authority decided during 2020 to suspend the payment service via WhatsApp, under the pretext of maintaining an adequate competitive environment in Brazil.
This forced the US instant messaging company to discontinue the functionality, with the regulator warning of possible fines for those who do not comply with the order to stop working with WhatsApp payments since then.
It should be noted that the departure of the monetary policy authority is a relief for the company, since Meta, the parent company that also includes social networks such as Facebook and Instagram, announced at the end of last year its commitment to commercial messages , a particularly attractive area for the company, at a time when its main business, advertising, is down.
“This is important because we believe that payments from people to companies through WhatsApp will have a big impact on everyone,” said Guilherme Horn, WhatsApp representative in Latin America, in a post on Linkedin.
Specify that the idea is that you can “pay for products and services directly in the conversation with Mastercard and Visa debit and credit cards”. On the same day, its founder, Mark Zuckerberg, also confirmed the news on Instagram Live.
The Details
The central bank’s official statement details the rules of the game for bidders interested in participating in Facebook Pay.
Thus, the issuer made it clear that the membership of new approved institutions or payment issuers remains open, and specified that new subscribers, once approved, must wait a month to work through WhatsApp.
The former, in response to “Compliance with Regulatory Principles Related to Aspects of Competition and Non-Discrimination”.
