The country’s central bank has stopped WhatsApp’s payments function just over a week after the app’s introduction in Brazil. Reuters reports that Visa and Mastercard have been instructed by the banking authority to stop accepting payments and transfers through WhatsApp Pay. The two businesses would be subject to fines and administrative penalties for disobeying the decree.
The bank provided an explanation for its choice, stating that it was unable to fully evaluate the service before launching it. As a result, it warned that the service in its current form could harm efficiency, competition, and data privacy. Accordingly, the decision to temporarily halt the service will maintain a healthy climate for competition and guarantee an interoperable, quick, secure, open, and affordable payment system.
This is only the most recent setback regarding WhatsApp Pay that Facebook and its parent company, WhatsApp, have experienced. The service was initially scheduled to debut in India between 2017 and 2018. Due to worries that it did not adhere to the nation’s data localization laws, it has been in limbo for more than two years.
The RBI instructed the NPCI late last year not to permit the rollout of WhatsApp Pay in India. The regulator justified its choice by citing worries that WhatsApp was not abiding by federal laws. The business has supposedly now overcome all regulatory obstacles. It is reportedly finally prepared to introduce the eagerly anticipated service to the nation. In reality, a report from February stated that the business had already received all necessary governmental permits to roll out the service nationwide.
