Brazil: Mastercard/Facebook enable WhatsApp digital payments
Extending its partnership with Facebook, Mastercard is working with the social media company to allow WhatsApp users in Brazil to transfer money and pay businesses via the app, providing a quick, convenient and secure digital payment method.
Among the first to benefit from this payment method are Mastercard cardholders that bank with Nubank and Sicredi, with additional banking partners expected to join the program soon.
With social distancing measures requiring consumers to seek alternative contactless payment methods, Mastercard’s solution known as ‘Mastercard Send’ will allow users of WhatsApp to use their phones to transfer money instantly, seamlessly, securely and in a contact-free way, 24/7.
“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,” said Shari Krikorian, Senior Vice President, New Payment Platforms, Products and Innovation, Mastercard.
“Our partnership with WhatsApp, powered by Mastercard Send™, is just another example of how Mastercard is providing innovative new solutions for customers and consumers all around the world, enabling them to send and receive money, when, where and how they want. Mastercard Send plays a key role in diversifying Mastercard’s payment flows and enhancing payment experiences for customers.”
Person to person payments (P2P)
With person to person payments (P2P) seeing significant growth due to technologies and mobile platforms, globally, Mastercard predicts that domestic p2P transfers are expected to reach more than US$2.07trn by 2022.
With the new solution, Mastercard and Facebook aim to make the once cumbersome and time consuming process of transferring money in Brazil, convenient and secure. With the ability to make P2P payments via WhatsApp those in Brazil will be able to register their debit card with the app to make payments and eliminate the risks and inefficiencies that are associated with other payment methods.
Electronic payments for small businesses
As well as the capability to make transfers, WhatsApp users can also pay small businesses via the WhatsApp Business Application. As a result those in Brazil can instantly make digital payments for goods and services to millions of small businesses.
According to a recent study, 60% of Brazilian consumers already use WhatsApp to interact with small businesses, to order products, negotiate prices or schedule appointments. By enabling Mastercard cardholders to register their credit or debit card on WhatsApp to make secure payments, consumers can complete their shopping journey without the need to leave the application.
“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. “Small businesses are the backbone of the country. The ability to easily make sales right within WhatsApp will help business owners adapt to the digital economy and to support growth and financial recovery.”
Ensuring security
By harnessing Mastercard’s state-of-the-art tokenization solution, linking credit or debit cards to WhatsApp is highly secure. The technology protects cardholder information by replacing the original 16-digit card number with a unique alternative number - ‘token’ - associated with each individual account which is not functional anywhere else. Once the token has been created, consumers need to input their security PIN each time they want to make a transaction.
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