Whatsapp can now be used for money transfers in Brazil. The central bank of Brazil officially gave the approval of the WhatsApp Pay feature after being blocked last year.
WhatsApp COO Matthew Idema emphasized that starting May 5, 2021, a number of users will get a payment feature on the WhatsApp application and can invite other users to use the service.
Quoting Reuters, sending money on WhatsApp can use a debit card or prepaid banking card with a limit of 5,000 reais or USD 933.90 per month, without administration fees.
The restrictions on sending money via WhatsApp have increased compared to last year when it was first launched. At that time, users were only allowed to send 1000 reais or USD 186.78 per month or no more than 20 transfers per day.
Quoting the Financial Times, WhatsApp in Brazil is working with Visa Inc, Mastercard and Cielo SA. Cards that can be used in this application are the output of Banco do Brasil SA, Banco Inter, Banco Bradesco BA, Itau Unibanco Holding SA, as well as financial technology services Nubank, Mercado Pago and Sicredi.
Previously, WhatsApp, which is now under the Facebook company, launched a payment system feature in June 2020. However, the Brazilian central bank blocked the feature because it was accused of damaging the existing payment system, including from a competition perspective, efficiency and personal data.
The Brazilian central bank has also asked WhatsApp or Facebook to become a financial service if it wants to create a payment system in the application. Facebook finally created a new unit called Facebook Pagamentos do Brazil, which is subject to central bank regulations.
But unfortunately, WhatsApp Pay is not yet supported for shopping transactions. Previously, WhatsApp had already launched a money transfer feature through their platform in India.
Reporting from the official website, WhatsApp designed the payment feature in collaboration with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) using the Unified Payment Interface (UPI).
By using the UPI system, it allows transactions for more than 160 banks that are WhatsApp partners. To send money, users must have a bank account and debit card in India. WhatsApp sends instructions to a bank that has been compromised by the UPI system.
Currently, WhatsApp in India is working with five banks, namely ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, State Bank of India, and Jio Payments Bank. In India, WhatsApp has 400 million monthly active users (MAU). Meanwhile Brazil's second largest market has 120 million monthly active users.
