Facebook rolling out WhatsApp Payments in Brazil

Facebook Inc’s WhatsApp messenger launched a payments feature in Brazil, the app’s second-biggest market with more than 120 million users.

Payments on WhatsApp will be free for users, whether sending to friends on the app or to pay a business for goods and services. The Facebook unit will charge business owners a fee for purchases and is partnering with Cielo SA, Brazil’s largest payments company, to process transactions.

WhatsApp has tested payments in a handful of markets over the past two years, including India and Mexico, but Brazil is the first where the service will go through a full-scale rollout of the feature. Facebook started a small test of the product in Brazil about a month ago, WhatsApp Chief Operating Officer Matt Idema said in an interview, adding that the country is among the leaders when it comes to people using WhatsApp to interact with merchants.