South Africa's Nedbank has teamed up with Mastercard and local fintech player Ukheshe to let customers pay small businesses via WhatsApp.
Once registered, small and microbusinesses can use the service, called Money Message, to send a WhatsApp request-to-pay message to customers with a valid South African identity document and bank account.
For first-time users, a notification is sent via SMS prompting them to register for the service. The customer puts in their name and registers their card details and can then make payments within WhatsApp via their cellphone number or a QR code.
The system has been in beta with a small group of micro merchants for around a month and will now be gradually expanded.
Chipo Mushwana, executive, emerging payments, Nedbank, says: "Money Message looks to overcome a variety of cost, security and technical barriers by enabling micro merchants and their customers to transact with each other easily on an existing platform, which is WhatsApp."