臉書公司（Facebook）旗下的即時通訊服務WhatsApp周一在巴西各地推出了一個系統，該系統將允許用戶在聊天中像發送照片或視頻一樣向個人或當地企業匯款。
去年，因用戶隱私泄露等一系列丑聞，臉書不斷遭到群眾的抨擊，公司信譽嚴重受損。
于是，扎克伯格宣布，Facebook計劃轉型為專注隱私的平臺。扎克伯格在他的一篇博客文章中說，Facebook將向人們提供更多方式，讓他們在信息傳送的基礎上進行互動，“包括電話、視頻聊天、群組、故事、企業、支付、商業，最終還將成為許多其他私人服務的平臺。”
扎克伯格宣布后，《紐約時報》、《華爾街日報》等多家媒體紛紛表示，扎克伯格所描述的愿景，早已由中國騰訊公司的社交軟件“微信”（WeChat）實現了。
扎克伯格本人也沒有否認。去年3月，他曾對科技媒體（The Information）創始人杰西卡·萊辛(Jessica Lessin)在2015年3月發表的文章《Facebook應該向微信學習什么》做出回應：“要是四年前聽你的就好了。”
Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said in April that the company was expanding tools for businesses in WhatsApp.
In March last year, Zuckerberg responded to Jessica Lessin, founder of tech media The Information, highlighting a March 2015 article she wrote that suggested Facebook should learn from WeChat: “If only I’d listened to your advice four years ago.”
這就意味著，臉書未來會借鑒微信的模式。然而，這一天真的到來了！
據聚焦信息技術公司報道的新聞網站TechCrunch消息所知，經過幾個月的討論和測試，WhatsApp終于上線了支付服務Facebook Pay。
6月15日，WhatsApp宣布上線支付服務，巴西用戶將能夠首先體驗Facebook Pay。WhatsApp在其博客文章中表示，該支付服務對消費者免費，不收取任何傭金，但企業用戶需要支付3.99%的手續費來使用收付款服務。
目前，WhatsApp賬戶可綁定Visa、MasterCard信用卡或借記卡等，支持6位數密碼或指紋完成支付。
The system will use Facebook Pay and be free to individual users, while charging businesses a fee for receiving payments.
Facebook's WhatsApp messaging service rolled out a system across Brazil on Monday that will allow users to send money to individuals or local businesses within a chat, attaching payments as they would a photo or video.
WhatsApp正在與巴西最大的信用卡和借記卡運營商Cielo合作處理付款事項。這一消息使得Cielo的股價當天飆升30%，而由于擔心新冠病毒會出現第二波疫情，包括巴西在內的全球股市都出現了紅色。
WhatsApp支付系統在巴西將是首次在全國范圍內推出，并將直接引入支付功能。其實，WhatsApp上線支付服務多次被延遲。數月以來，WhatsApp一直在印度市場測試其支付服務，但首先上線的卻是巴西。
WhatsApp在印度市場測試的支付服務并不是Facebook Pay，而是另一套系統WhatsApp Pay。早在2018年2月，WhatsApp Pay已經開始了100萬用戶的測試，時間過去了兩年，但該服務仍然擱淺。
WhatsApp支付服務最終在巴西市場上線而不是在印度市場上線，是因為巴西是僅次于印度的第二大市場并且擁有超過1.2億月活躍用戶。
WhatsApp is working with Cielo, Brazil's largest credit and debit card operator, to process the payments. The news sent Cielo's shares soaring 30 percent on a day when stocks worldwide, including in Brazil, were in red due to fears of a second wave of COVID-19.
WhatsApp tested the system in India beginning in 2018. The Brazil launch will be the first nationwide roll-out and will introduce the ability to directly pay a business.
The company has over 120 million individual users in Brazil, its second-largest market behind India.
Matt Idema
WhatsApp首席運營官馬特•艾德馬(Matt Idema)在談到巴西時表示，“無論是個人還是小型企業， WhatsApp在巴西都被大量使用。我們認為，我們可以幫助巴西發展數字支付，幫助巴西小型企業發展數字經濟，并支持普惠金融。”
艾德馬舉例表示，巴西許多小企業已經把WhatsApp作為一種營銷工具來回答問題或發送目錄。
他還表示，“如果你需要借錢給某人，或者你想從當地商家那里買東西，在疫情期間我們之間無法像往常那樣進行互動。” WhatsApp支付服務在很大程度上有助于那些在新冠病毒大流行期間居家隔離的用戶們。
"WhatsApp is heavily used there, both by people and small businesses," Matt Idema, chief operating officer of WhatsApp, said of Brazil. "We think we can help grow digital payments, help grow the digital economy with small businesses, and help support financial inclusion."
Many of Brazil's small businesses already use WhatsApp as a marketing tool to answer questions or send catalogs, Idema said.
The roll-out in Brazil was long planned, but may help users who are shut in during the coronavirus pandemic, Idema said.
"We can't have the kind of interactions with each other that we normally would, if you want to lend someone cash or if you want to buy something from a local business," he said.
