WhatsApp will have payment via debit card closed in December

Earlier this week, WhatsApp reported that the peer-to-peer payment functionality, using a debit card, will be discontinued in December. The company highlighted prioritizing transactions via PIX, but guarantees that other payment methods remain unchanged. Since its launch in 2021, to use this service, users needed to have a bank account and a debit or prepaid card from partner financial institutions.

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Debit payment closed

WhatsApp announced on Tuesday (26) that the debit card payment function will be closed from December 19th. Meta, responsible for the application, stated that the decision aims to prioritize transactions via PIX, although other payment methods continue to operate normally.

In a statement to g1, the company highlighted that WhatsApp Payments will not be deactivated. The option to transfer money between users will remain available. “We are notifying all users on the app about the end of this function from December 19th,” reported Meta.

When it was launched in 2021, WhatsApp Payments required users to have a bank account and a debit, prepaid or combo card under the Visa or Mastercard brands, issued by partner banks, including Banco Inter, Nubank, Sicredi, Banco do Brasil, Bradesco, Itaú, Mercado Pago, Next, or Woop Sicredi.

The note in full:

“The Payments functionality on WhatsApp continues to be a priority for the complete experience we want to offer our users. When it comes to payments between friends and family, we decided to focus our investments on solutions via PIX and suspend the debit card function. We are warning all users in the application about the end of this function from December 19th. There will be no change regarding payments from people to companies, which will continue to accept all payment methods currently available on WhatsApp.“, says Meta.

Make transfer via WhatsApp

Money transfers through the app can be carried out using the dollar sign icon (R$) in the message field, right next to the options to send images, contacts, etc.

To use the function, follow the steps below:

• 1. Tap the icon “R$” and select “Payment”;
• 2. Enter the value and an optional message;
• 3. Press “Pay” and enter the Meta Pay PIN (password, usually made up of numbers);
• 4. The transaction will be sent similar to a message in the WhatsApp conversation and requires acceptance from the recipient for the money to be transferred successfully.

For new users of the service, it will be necessary to follow a few more steps, such as: accepting the terms of use, creating a Meta Pay PIN (password), registering a card from a partner institution and confirming the registration in the application.

Featured Photo: WhatsApp logo appears on the screen of a smartphone (Reproduction/Jaque Silva/NurPhoto/Getty Images Embed)