WhatsApp recently decided to announce a mobile payment system for businesses in Brazil. The move was met with a lot of praise. However, in a recent turn of events, it seems that Brazil has suspended the payment system.
Brazil Suspends WhatsApp Mobile Payments in Light of Risk Assessment
The news went viral after Brazil's Central Bank went ahead and ordered the suspension of mobile payments that were taking place via WhatsApp. Additionally, Central Bank has also reached out to Visa as well as MasterCard to request the same. Failure to suspend the services would result in a fine.
The move was definitely a surprise to Facebook which owns WhatsApp. Facebook had been in touch with the Central Bank before the service was even launched. The suspension is important because it will give the financial authorities enough time to make sure that there are no risks involved in the process.
This is what a Facebook spokesperson had to say while talking to a Bloomberg representative.
Our goal is to provide digital payments to all WhatsApp users in Brazil using an open model and we will continue to work with local partners and the Central Bank to make this possible. In addition, we support the Central Bank's PIX project on digital payments and together with our partners are committed to work with the Central Bank to integrate our systems when PIX becomes available.
Facebook is one of the many companies who have decided to jump on the mobile payment bandwagon. Apple already has a payment system known as Apple Card, and we are already seeing Google working on something similar, as well as Samsung. At the time of writing, there is no official word as to when the WhatsApp mobile payment system will be back up.
