Meta's WhatsApp rolls out business payment tool in Brazil

MercadoLibre

11/04/2023 16:00

By Andre Romani
       SAO PAULO, April 11 (Reuters) - Meta Platforms  META.O 
on Tuesday began rolling out its payments tool to small and
medium-sized firms through its WhatsApp messaging platform in
Brazil, part of Meta's strategy to use the Brazilian market as a
key test space for business messaging.
    The development of business messaging has become all the
more urgent as Meta's core advertising business has stalled.
    The service, provided in partnership with payment processors
including MercadoLibre's  MELI.O  Mercado Pago, Itau Unibanco's
 ITUB4.SA  Rede and Cielo  CIEL3.SA , will allow WhatsApp users
to make purchases and pay directly through the app with credit
and debit cards from Mastercard and Visa, Meta said in a
statement.
    The tool will initially be available for some merchants that
use WhatsApp Business. Clients of WhatsApp's API, which mainly
serves large businesses, will be able to receive payments in the
future, it added.
        While Brazil is the first country to have the service
launched for small businesses using the free version of WhatsApp
Business, in India, WhatsApp's largest market, users can make
payments to businesses that use the application's paid API. 
    The announcement comes after Brazil's central bank approved
the tool last month after nearly three years of regulatory
scrutiny, as authorities feared the service could hit
competition, efficiency and data privacy.
    WhatsApp users in Brazil have been able to make payments
between users through the app since 2021, and last year, Meta
launched a commercial directory for WhatsApp in Brazil, allowing
users find companies with business messaging accounts.

 (Reporting by Andre Romani; Writing by Peter Frontini; Editing
by Sarah Morland and Leslie Adler)
 ((Peter.Siqueira@thomsonreuters.com; +55 11 56447727;))