Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg confirmed the news on Instagram, writing: "The Central Bank just authorized the launch of our new payment feature so people will be able to pay small businesses right on WhatsApp. Excited to roll this out soon."

Brazilians have been able to make P2P payments through WhatsApp since 2021 but regulators have put a hold on payments to businesses until now.

The feature lets shoppers browse products, add them to a cart and make card payments from their WhatsApp chat.

Stephane Kasriel, head, commerce and fintech, Meta, says the firm has prioritised an open model and is already testing with partner retailers.

Big news on our efforts to offer people the ability to pay small businesses on @WhatsApp in 🇧🇷: the central bank has just granted authorization to launch. We’ve prioritized an open model & are testing now w/ several partners. Look fwd to bringing this to Brazil soon! pic.twitter.com/DrjmtgVA8E— Stephane Kasriel (@skasriel) March 2, 2023