Brazil central bank greenlights Meta's WhatsApp merchant payment system

The approval comes as Meta seeks to use Brazilian market as a key test space for business messaging

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazil's central bank on Thursday approved Meta Platforms' (META.O) payments launch for small and medium-sized business in Brazil via its messaging application WhatsApp, building on the app's 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.

WhatsApp users in Brazil have been able to make payments between users through the application since 2021, but the new development clears the way for merchants to receive payments.

"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," he said.