Brazilian central bank gives Meta nod to launch a WhatsApp business payment feature

Tech giant Meta has received approval from the Central Bank of Brazil to release a new feature for WhatsApp business payments. The new feature will allow customers to buy items from small businesses through the messaging service and make payments through the app.

Brazilian central bank approves WhatsApp business payment feature

This approval was confirmed by the head of commerce and financial technologies at Meta, Stephane Kasriel, who said the company had focused on an “open model” and was testing this feature through several partners. The executive also noted that the definitive date for when this feature would be officially rolled out would be shared.

“Soon, Brazilians will be able to browse products, add them to a cart and make secure payments to small businesses right from a chat with your credit or debit card,” said the head of WhatsApp at Meta, Will Cathcart.

This feature sets Meta a step closer to being a payments company, which could go a long way in ensuring the tech giant solidifies its presence in the sector. This development also comes at a time when other social media platforms, such as Twitter, have expressed interest in venturing into the payment business.

The Brazil central bank approved peer-to-peer payments through WhatsApp in 2021. Before this approval, the messaging platform was blocked in Brazil a week before its official launch in June 2020.

The latest approval will now authorize Meta to support merchant payments as the social media platform seeks to expand its services in Brazil. Meta is leveraging the growth potential of the Brazilian digital economy, which will play an integral role.

Meta has announced previous plans to venture into the payments business, but its previous plans have not always been successful because of regulatory scrutiny. In the summer of 2022, Meta ended the pilot phase for a digital wallet known as Novi.

The Novi project was initially designed as a digital wallet supporting the Diem digital currency. The digital wallet would allow people to trade this digital currency. However, as regulatory pressure mounted on this project, the Diem Association sold its intellectual property and tech-related assets to Silvergate Capital in San Diego for $182 million.

Twitter wants to enter the payments industry

Meta is not the only social media giant looking to enter the payments industry. Twitter is also working on launching a payments feature months after the platform was under the new ownership of Elon Musk. Musk is pushing Twitter toward generating new revenue streams as the company looks to boost its financial position.

When Musk took over Twitter, he had said that the master plan was creating an “everything app” that would offer social networking, peer-to-peer payments, and e-commerce shopping. Twitter has yet to launch this feature but is already applying for regulatory approval. The company is also set to launch Twitter coins that will be used to facilitate payments.