Facebook finally launched its long-awaited digital payment system WhatsApp Pay. The payment system was announced in 2018 and was expected to launch last year but was postponed. Now WhatsApp users will be able to send and receive money from friends and families as well as paying for good and service without leaving the app.
The WhatsApp digital payment system is powered by Facebook Pay, the payment system is secure and prevents unauthorised access. The payment system uses a six-digit PIN or fingerprint to authenticate transactions and interestingly, it doesn’t attract any charges whatsoever when you’re sending or paying for a service.
Businesses, however, will pay a processing fee to receive customer payments, similar to what they may already pay when accepting a credit card transaction.
Currently, WhatsApp payment is only available in Brazil and supports Visa and Mastercard debit and credit cards from Banco de Brasil, Nubank, and Sicredi. WhatsApp also says it is working with Cielo, Brazil’s leading payments processor, and has built an open model to make it easy for more partners to join in the future.
The new WhatsApp payment system could be the perfect alternative to Paypal, especially for freelancers and bloggers who offer certain online services.
At the moment, there’s no word regarding when or if the payment feature will roll out globally but we really hope it makes it globally as it would make sending and receiving money internationally easy.
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