Facebook is launching a WhatsApp-based digital payments service for the messaging app’s 120m Brazilian users; users will be able to send money to other users or make purchases from SMBs without having to leave the platform; “Making payments simple can help bring more businesses into the digital economy, opening up new opportunities for growth,” WhatsApp said on Monday according to the FT. “In addition, we’re making sending money to loved ones as easy as sending a message, which could not be more important as people are physically distant from one another.”; Brazil is their second largest market after India, where they have been trying to launch a similar service but have been slowed by regulators; debit and credit cards from Banco do Brasil, Nubank, and Sicredi on the Visa and Mastercard networks are currently supported; the company also said they have built an open model to allow for more partners in the future. Financial Times.
