Payments on WhatsApp via Facebook Pay
On June 15, 2020, Mark Zuckerberg strikes again! After the announcement of Facebook Shops this time, again through its Facebook profile, he announced the launch of payments between people using WhatsApp directly thanks to Facebook Pay.
This feature for now introduced only in Brazil, will soon be extended to other countries.
Let’s see how it works.
Facebook Pay
Facebook Pay was unveiled in November last year with the promise of expanding to other countries besides the UK and US.
This tool allows users to experience a convenient, secure and simple payment experience through Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.
With Facebook Pay you can safely insert a preferred payment method without having to introduce it every time you want to make a purchase, view the purchase history and only in the USA, for now, have a live chat with customers to assist them during the process.
Facebook Pay is very similar to the service offered by Apple (Apple Pay) but, unlike this, you will be able to transfer money without having to pay commissions. Facebook Pay can be linked to a PayPal account and most credit cards are also available.
To use it you do not need a Facebook account but this is needed to access the app. Finally, Facebook Pay does not consist of an extension of Facebook but must be activated through the settings section of each app connected to Facebook.
Payments on WhatsApp
As mentioned above, Zuckerberg introduced the WhatsApp payment feature with the idea of adding a payment system to the messaging app. This has now been introduced in Brazil but with the promise of extending it to other countries.
WhatsApp Pay works both for money exchanges between companies and customers, and for exchanges between proven. In the first case it relies on WhatsApp Business and then directly on the chat of an e-commerce site.
This new simplified and secure payment method is enabled by Facebook Pay and aims to bring more and more medium and small businesses closer to the world of the digital economy, which is expected to grow by offering many new opportunities.
As a conclusion we can say that the fundamental aspect of WhatsApp Pay is simplicity. As Zuckerberg says in the post announcing the launch “We are making sending and receiving money as easy as sharing a photo”.
But the idea of Zuckerberg is not entirely new… thanks to WeChat in fact millions of Chinese already have the opportunity to pay restaurants, online purchases, tickets for transport and even fines and bills!
Doesn’t it seem absurd that Mark wants to follow WeChat’s footsteps given the spectacular digital success of the Chinese messaging app, but will he be able to achieve the same results?