KUALA LUMPUR: As digital payments are making waves in line with digitisation efforts globally, WhatsApp has recently launched its payment gateway in Brazil.
Hate to burst the bubble but the technology has yet to reach users in Malaysia and the Asia-Pacific region, at least not for any time soon.
“Brazil is the only country so far, with no other regions being announced (as its next market),” the messaging app representative said in a query today.
WhatsApp, which is owned by Facebook, has launched the digital payment service, capitalising on the chat’s platform popularity in emerging markets.
This is in line with Facebook’s aspiration to attract more e-commerce services onto its platform.
Earlier this year, chief executive Mark Zuckerberg outlined plans to offer the service in India, Indonesia and Mexico, pending regulatory approval.
Brazil is the second-largest market for WhatsApp with over 120 million users.
Once the payment service comes into play in Malaysia, it is expected to compete for the market share with key mobile payment and e-wallet players such as GrabPay, Touch&Go e-wallet, as well as Boost. – Bernama
