New WhatsApp feature makes sending and receiving money “as easy as sharing photos”

Mark Zuckerberg has posted an announcement on his Facebook page regarding a new payment feature on WhatsApp. However, it’s only available in one country right now: Brazil.

“We’re making sending and receiving money as easy as sharing photos. We’re also enabling small businesses to make sales right within WhatsApp,” wrote Zuckerberg as he also posted an image of what the feature looks like.

According to the Facebook founder, he also stated that they are “working with local banks”. This includes Banco do Brasil, Nubank, Sicredi and Cielo, which is the leading payments processor for merchants in Brazil.

This feature is also an extension of Facebook Pay, which lets you set up a preferred payment method with your Facebook account and is currently available in Malaysia—although I don’t think I’ve seen the feature being used yet. According to their website, Facebook is also aiming to release the payment method for Instagram, as well as Facebook Messenger in the future.

While Brazil may be the first country to get the feature, Facebook will “widely roll out payments in WhatsApp” elsewhere. This initiative will make it a lot easier for a small businesses to sell online, but Facebook has also previously announced Facebook Shops which also helps small businesses connect with customers.

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