Meta (META) gets green light to launch WhatsApp merchant payment system in Brazil

Brazil’s central bank, on Thursday, approved the launch of Meta Platform’s (NASDAQ: META) payments for small and medium-sized business in Brazil via its messaging application WhatsApp. The approval builds on the platforms already existing local peer-to-peer payment system.

The approval comes as Meta seeks to use the Brazilian market as a key test space for business messaging, an area that has assumed greater urgency as Meta's core advertising business has stalled.

"Soon, WhatsApp users will be able to pay for products and services directly in a conversation with Mastercard and Visa debit and credit cards," Guilherme Horn, head of WhatsApp Latin America, said in a Linkedin post.

Shortly after the central bank's greenlight, Meta's chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said on his Instagram broadcast channel that "people will be able to pay small businesses right on WhatsApp".

"Excited to roll this out soon," Zuckerberg said.

Shares of META are up 5.82% in mid-day trading on Friday.

By Michael Elkins | [email protected]

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