WhatsApp says Brazil central bank willing to restore payments service

Friday, June 26, 2020

No items found.

"The central bank made clear that they support platforms like WhatsApp that are innovating in digital payments," Will Cathcart, head of WhatsApp, said in a statement.

On Tuesday, Brazil's central bank and antitrust watchdog suspended WhatsApp's newly launched payments services, as they see potential damage in the areas of competition, efficiency and data privacy. Regulators blocked WhatsApp partnerships with Visa, Mastercard and Cielo SA <CIEL3.SA>.

As Cielo is the only card acquirer in a deal with WhatsApp, Brazil's antitrust watchdog Cade is investigating if the terms of the partnership could favor it in terms of exclusivity.

Cade estimates WhatsApp could increase Cielo's card transactions by 10% in a conservative scenario. Cielo is already the country's biggest acquirer with a 41% market share

Still, Whatsapp reinforced in the statement its plans to open the service to more players in the future and to provide payments via central bank payments platform PIX.

Brazil is the first country where WhatsApp has announced a nationwide payments service. It has over 120 million users, its second largest market behind India.

The central bank did not immediately comment on the matter.

(Reporting by Carolina Mandl, in Sao Paulo, and Gabriel Pontes, in Brasilia; Editing by Christian Plumb and Jonathan Oatis)

‍

Other posts

U.S. and states' Google antitrust probe nears finish line

June 26, 2020

The U.S. Justice Department is seeking the final documents to complete an antitrust investigation of Alphabet Inc's Google <GOOGL.O>, said three sources familiar with the probe, which is expected to end with a lawsuit this summer.

IBM Cloud - New Wizard To Start Your Server

Fedor Schwartengolt

April 4, 2020

The IBM cloud is a very powerful platform that should be seriously considered by organisations looking to improve their cloud computing. With an intuitive wizard and an adaptable ecosystem, the platform can accommodate a wide range of needs and demands.

The 5 Best Online Banks – Banking for Everyone

June 4, 2020

Online banks are quickly becoming the norm of 21st century money transactions. Learn more about the best, most reliable online banks in this expert comparison.

Fortnite - The Game Changer

March 27, 2020

Within the first 10 months of Fortnite being released in July 2017, there were 125 million registered players and the game had taken $1.2 billion in net revenue. In April 2018, the game was launched on iPhone, where it reportedly made $2 million a day. This resulted in a revenue of $2.4 billion in 2018.

Step Up Your Marketing Game with Datorama

April 14, 2020

Datorama is a popular software solution that brings all your marketing indicators in one place. With it, marketing teams can better track your sales performance, conversion funnel, as well as customer awareness and engagement.