Buoyed by the launch of WhatsApp payments in India and Brazil, Mark Zuckerberg has reiterated his commitment to a deeper integration within the family of Facebook apps, including Instagram and Messenger, to provide a unified commerce experience to millions of users in the near future.
In an earnings call after declaring strong Q2 results late on Wednesday, Zuckerberg said that as the company works its way down the stack from discovery and ads to native commerce storefront, it is also making progress on payments at the same time.
WhatsApp payments are now available to everyone in Brazil as well as for some in India. There are a lot of people already using this as a simple and secure way to send money to friends. We’re adding new payments features in Messenger in the US like QR codes,- he told the analysts.
WhatsApp Payments went live for 20 million users in India in November last year and is currently being used for Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions via the platform. The company also has over 15 million users on its WhatsApp for Business platform in India.
“Commerce experiences are now accessible across most of our services, and we have a full roadmap of deeper integrations that I’m excited about in the months ahead,” Zuckerberg announced.
Facebook last month also rolled out the ability for Messenger users in the US to leverage QR codes and payment links when they want to send or request money with Facebook Pay, even if they’re not connected on Facebook.
Facebook Pay is also arriving on other online shopping platforms, starting with the e-commerce platform Shopify, which will help businesses ensure a seamless checkout experience for their customers on their own websites.
“We are also making Facebook Pay available outside of our apps for the first time, which means that you’re going to start seeing it as a checkout option on the web and especially in WebViews that you see within our app after clicking on ads or other business content,” Zuckerberg added.
People already use Facebook Pay to send money, shop, donate and more, across Facebook apps and services.
More than 3.5 billion people now actively use one or more of Facebook’s services globally.
