Brazil's central bank approves Meta's WhatsApp to provide merchant collection services
According to news in the morning of March 3, Beijing time, the Brazilian Central Bank approved on Thursday that Meta provides payment services to Brazilian small and medium-sized enterprises through instant messaging application WhatsApp. This new service is based on WhatsApp's existing local peer-to-peer payment system.
Currently, Meta is testing corporate communications services through the Brazilian market. This new area of business is becoming more important as the growth of Meta's core advertising business has stalled.
Since 2021, WhatsApp users in Brazil have been able to make payments and transfers between users through the app. The approved new service clears the way for merchant collection scenarios.
Guilherme Horn, head of WhatsApp's Latin American market, said on LinkedIn: "soon, WhatsApp users will be able to buy products and services directly using debit and credit cards from MasterCard and Visa in conversations."
Shortly after being approved by Brazil's central bank, Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg also said on his Instagram radio channel: "people will be able to pay small merchants at WhatsApp."
