Digital Banking

Visa, Facebook back new payments feature in WhatsApp in Brazil

June 15, 2020

Visa Inc. announced a partnership with Facebook to power the new payments capability in the WhatsApp messaging service in Brazil.

The new feature will allow WhatsApp users to quickly send money to family or friends or make purchases at small businesses. The new capability will be powered by Visa Direct, a technology that allows real-time push payments as well as Visa Cloud Tokenization, a cutting-edge digital security capability that prevents fraud.

"As digital becomes the epicenter of daily life during the global pandemic, being able to move money in real time is increasingly critical for consumers and businesses,"Jack Forestell, chief product officer at Visa, said in a company release. "Using our technology to open up avenues like WhatsApp for more people to shop and pay each other digitally is an incredibly powerful proposition that we're excited to bring to life.”