Facebook Brings Payments To WhatsApp, Starting in Brazil (venturebeat.com) 9
Facebook has brought payments to WhatsApp for the first time, starting in Brazil. The new feature is powered by Facebook Pay, a unified payment service first introduced back in 2018. The company said at the time that it planned to enable the service across its suite of apps, including WhatsApp and Instagram. From a report: News emerged earlier this year that WhatsApp payments were going to launch first in India, but it has remained in private beta since then due to regulatory issues. The Brazil launch marks the first full countrywide launch for payments in WhatsApp and signals a new way for Facebook to monetize the messaging app, after having struggled to do so since acquiring it for around $19 billion back in 2014. Facebook Pay is currently available in about 40 countries around the world, though it's limited to the main Facebook app in most markets. The only exceptions to this are in the U.S., where it's also available through Facebook's Messenger app, and now Brazil, where it's also available in WhatsApp.
Splitting bills with friends (Score:2)
Yeah, I'm really confused, sorry, why, or even how the fuck would I pay for something using a chat application?
For quickly sending money to friends (e.g.: to split a bill) it makes sense to make the payment platform directly available in the same app where the said friends used a group chat to organize said evening. "Just click on your friend's name in the chat".
(non geeks won't realise that separation between chat and banking is important).
Then it's important for Zuckerberg to be a first mover: in region where mobile payment is only taking up now, or where there are no established payer, it's important to move in f
Both (Score:2)
WtF? Is this paying to use WhatsApp or sending payments via WhatsApp?
Both (as usual):
- It's a product that is presented to the users a way to send money to their friends (like PayPal App, AliPay, TWINT, MB Pay, etc.) e.g.: for splitting bills, or paying in some shops.
- Behind the scene it's a way for Zuckerberg to earn even more money through fees.
Re: (Score:2)
If it is anything like WeChat, which is very popular in China, it is sending money to people using the same interface that you use to send messages to people.
Re: (Score:2)
FB is copying WeChat, so presumably, it should support both paying using WhatsApp and sending money through WhatsApp. Usually, the first step is to put your money into some kind of wallet in WhatsApp.
So, do you want FB to track all your spending, so they know where you go and who you interact with in meatspace, in addition to already knowing all that in cyberspace, too?
can they handle Fake Payments? (Score:2)