An alert about WhatsApp Pay

This is an in-depth conversation about a tool that can directly affect your business and needs to be discussed before it's too late: WhatsApp Pay.

At the moment, you probably have a restless heart, filled with uncertainty and fear thinking: Will this tool increase my sales? Can it have a negative or positive impact? Will it facilitate fraud on WhatsApp?

And that's why this text is here today to be your WhatsApp Pay package insert. Here you will see the advantages of the new WhatsApp functionality, but also an alert on how not to fall for any scam. And it's important that you read it carefully before you start using it.

So...

What is WhatsApp Pay?

WhatApp Pay is a WhatsApp feature that was just relaunched on May 4, 2021.

It allows you to use WhatsApp as a form of payment and receipt both in the version for individuals and for legal entities.

You didn't hear it wrong, I said relaunched...

It has already been tested in another country and even had a brief stint in Brazil.

The first version of the payment functionality in the messaging app was made in India (WhatsApp had more than 200 million users in the country) in 2018 in a way compatible with Android and IOS. And it was due to arrive in Brazil and Indonesia.

In Brazil, WhatsApp Pay was born in the second half of 2020, but it was banned by Branco Central due to the lack of regulatory laws.

At that time, the list of banking institutions that are partners of the tool (which is a list very similar to what we have now) consisted of:

• Nubank;
• Bank of Brazil;
• I don't know;
• Visa;
• Mastercard.

But to WhatsApp's disappointment...

The Central Bank was already developing a similar tool in partnership with Brazilian banks: the PIX.

Pix is the tool developed by the Central Bank in partnership with other banks that transformed TED and DOC bank transfers into just an instant transaction.

In fact, the president of the Central Bank spoke to Convergência Digital website:

“The BC is following the WhatsApp initiative and believes that there is great potential for its integration with the PIX. However, the BC considers any initiative that could generate market fragmentation and concentration on specific agents to be premature”.

And what's new in 2021?

Now, in 2021, there hasn't been much change in functionality. The biggest issue was the approval of the Central Bank on April 30, 2020 and the increase in the list of partner banks.

Take a look if your bank is here:

• Bank of Brazil (Visa);
• Inter Bank (Mastercard);
• Bradesco (Visa);
• Itau (Mastercard);
• Mercado Pago (Visa);
• Next (Visa);
• Nubank (Mastercard);
• Sicredi (Mastercard and Visa);
• Woop, the Sicredi (Visa) digital account.

Now that your heart has warmed up knowing that the bank you use is already participating in WhatsApp Pay, your heart will be even warmer because...

Know that this initiative increases the ease of a sale since the customer doesn't have to leave the app for anything!

WhatsApp Pay will boost direct sales in the shopping cart WhatsApp Business. In other words, from the catalog, the customer can finalize a sale on their own if they want, without having to talk to you for anything. Now WhatsApp will increasingly replace the site for small businesses.

In addition, it will facilitate the purchase on other social networks of the Facebook Group, such as Instagram. Because the little bag will not have to be brought to the site in the future, but rather finalize the payment right there. Maybe inventory control won't be done there either?!

So, let's find out now how WhatsApp Pay will make your life easier...

The 3Ps that WhatsApp Pay provides

#1 Practicality

The convenience of solving everything through the app is priceless. Your customer can close an order on their own from the catalog tool and send payment at any time of the day. That is, you can literally sell while you sleep!

#2 Promptness

You don't need to open any other app to transact your business. You can solve everything there quickly and the money already falls directly into your account. And there's the promise that Whatsapp Pay will be more agile than banking apps — PIX level of speed.

#3 Protection

Everyone wants to be secure in electronic transactions. I, for example, don't carry cash and I lost my card months ago and haven't ordered another one yet. Why? Because I can live well paying with just my cell phone. And this reality will be increasingly common, especially now that WhatsApp Pay will make the move to encourage this practice.

So if you're excited about this new update...

It is important to make clear that you must be over 18 years old to use the functionality and update WhatsApp to have the new version with the functionality of WhatsApp Pay.

Speaking of updating: even if you update your app, WhatsApp Pay may still not appear to you.

But why?

Because the release will take place little by little. Do you know someone who has already had the new function released? For now, only a few people and retailers have the functionality released. So, keep your phone up to date for access as soon as it becomes available.

Now that you know which banks can use WhatsApp Pay (whether you're in or not), it's also important to note that for now only the debit function is available.

In other words, the new function will work like a Pix within the application and will not charge a fee for sending money to friends and family.

Another issue you need to keep an eye on is the transaction limit:

According to the WhatsApp website, “you can send up to R$1,000 per transaction and receive up to 20 transactions a day, or R$5 thousand a month. Once you reach the limit, you won't be able to send or receive payments. You can try the transaction again later.”

If you sell online, you're probably thinking: “Wait, I sell more than R$5 thousand reais a month!”

But unfortunately WhatsApp hasn't given any news to retailers yet...

Although there is still no news about the operation of WhatsApp Pay for business accounts (not even in the WhatsApp FAQ itself), Cielo keeps retailers informed about the partnership and is gradually making the function available.

In other words, about what has already been said by news sites and WhatsApp itself, the transaction limit is very low, especially at the beginning to be a final test of use in the country, but the tendency is for these amounts to increase over time.

But wait, if this is a bank transaction, the bank needs to have access to the data...

So, where is the encryption protection of the conversation?

It doesn't stay. The bank needs to know about payment information, so bye bye crypto.

However, they didn't leave it that way anyway, there is protection: the card data is “encrypted and stored in a separate and highly protected place” (Really? They haven't given more in-depth information about this yet), according to WhatsApp FAQ.

And it's not just us who are unsure about this new feature, even WhatsApp itself launched “Tips to avoid fraud when using payment features on WhatsApp”.

But calm down...

There are ways you can protect yourself and use the tool anyway!

• Use the two-step confirmation (which we have already mentioned here) for greater security, this reduces device cloning fraud.
• Lock the app using your device's fingerprint or Face ID. That way, you add the unlocking step every time you open the app (I know it's annoying, but it's for your protection).
• Don't share your passwords with anyone, neither the cell phone password nor the unique password sent by WhatsApp to confirm the transaction.

To use or not to use: that is the question

WhatsApp Pay has the potential to revolutionize the market, especially for small merchants. But at this first moment it must be viewed with caution.

Before starting to use, observe other people using it, this is not a tool that I recommend pioneering, because the consequences may not be so easy.

And as soon as you start venturing into paying by WhatsApp, follow the tips you learned in this post, so that you will stop leaving money on the table, or rather, money in the app.