Mastercard cardholders banking with Nubank and Sicredi are among the first in Brazil to experience payments on WhatsApp. Additional banking partners are expected to join the program soon, according to the press release.
Leveraging Mastercard Send™, millions of WhatsApp users can now use their phones to simply and easily transfer money instantly (24 hours a day, 7 days per week)[1] .
Person-to-person payments (P2P) are experiencing significant growth across the world, driven by technologies and mobile platforms that consumers enjoy using at little-to-no cost to them. Globally, domestic P2P transfers are expected to reach more than $2.07 trillion in volume by 20222.
Until now, the P2P user-experience in Brazil was cumbersome and time consuming. Consumers had to identify money transfer services and provide bank account information for recipients, who could wait days to receive funds.
With the enablement of P2P payments on WhatsApp, Brazilians will be able to send and receive money conveniently and securely by registering their debit card through the most popular instant messaging app in the country, eliminating the risks and inefficiencies associated with other payment methods including cash.
The new solution responds to the needs of Brazilians who are increasingly looking for quick and safe ways to send and receive money, whether it is to reimburse a friend for a meal, to pay a roommate for rent, or simply lend money to a family member.
In addition to making transfers, WhatsApp users can also pay small businesses through the WhatsApp Business Application. This allows for instant digital payments of goods and services to millions of small businesses in Brazil. Mastercard cardholders can register their credit or debit card to make their purchases securely.
According to a recent study3, 60% of Brazilian consumers already use WhatsApp to interact with small businesses, be it to order products, negotiate prices or schedule appointments. Enabling payments through WhatsApp will now allow consumers to complete the shopping journey with their favorite businesses without leaving the application.
“Over a third of young Brazilians make payments through their mobile phone regularly today, and we know immediacy of payment transfers and instant confirmations are the most important factors for this segment of consumers,”4 said Shari Krikorian, Senior Vice President, New Payment Platforms, Products and Innovation, Mastercard.
“We are very excited to bring payments on WhatsApp to our users across Brazil. Making it easier to send and receive money could not be more important than at a time like this,” said Matt Idema, WhatsApp’s Chief Operating Officer.
Linking their preferred credit or debit card within the app the tokenization technology protects cardholder information by replacing the original 16-digit card number with a unique alternative number, or “token,” which is associated with each WhatsApp user’s individual account and not functional elsewhere. Once the token has been created, consumers will need to input their security PIN each time they want to perform a transaction.
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[1] Actual posting times for approved transactions will depend on the receiving financial institution
[2] Juniper Research, 2018, Digital Money Transfer & Remittances
[3] WhatsApp Economic Impact Report-final.pdf
[4] Mastercard, 2019, P2P Payments Research
Banking 4.0 – „how was the experience for you”
„So many people are coming here to Bucharest, people that I see and interact on linkedin and now I get the change to meet them in person. It was like being to the Football World Cup but this was the World Cup on linkedin in payments and open banking.”
Many more interesting quotes in the video below:
