- According to a recent Visa study, 83% of Brazilian WhatsApp users say security is a very important factor when sending money to friends and family via their mobile phone.
- Visa’s Cloud Token technology powers world-class security for payments on WhatsApp.
Press Release
Visa Solutions Offer Enhanced Security to person to person transfers on WhatsApp
Sao Paulo and San Francisco – (May 4, 2021) – Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) today announced that peer-to-peer (P2P) money transfers on WhatsApp in Brazil are now available for Visa accountholders from Bradesco, Banco do Brasil, next, Sicredi, Woop and Mercado Pago. Brazilian WhatsApp users can now set up an account by adding their Visa card to utilize the feature. Visa Direct, Visa’s real-time payments solution, and Visa Cloud Token technologies power the world-class security features that enable WhatsApp users to swiftly and securely send and receive money to family and friends on the popular global messaging service.
“Whether it is splitting a bill among friends or providing a family member with spending money, WhatsApp users can now send secure peer-to-peer payments to friends and family anywhere in Brazil,” said Fernando Teles, Visa Brazil Country Manager. “We are hearing firsthand from local consumers that security and privacy are key considerations by consumers when thinking of sending mobile payments to friends and family. At Visa, we also value these attributes, and Visa’s Token technology provides the enhanced security Brazilian consumers can rely on for digital payments, by protecting and removing sensitive payment information and converting consumer data into tokens.”
According to a recent Visa study conducted by Morning Consult1, security and privacy are critical factors for consumers when sending money to friends and family. Out of seven attributes, which included – convenience, cost, ease of use, privacy, reliability, security, and speed – security and privacy rated highest in importance for mobile payments. 83% of people who responded to the survey saying security is very important and a similar number (80%) say privacy is also critical. In addition, with 98% of adults 18 and older reporting they use WhatsApp daily, the app’s new payments feature could be significant for the future of payments in Brazil. Visa cardholders particularly expressed their interest in making transfers on WhatsApp: 79% of respondents showed an interest in using the app for quick person-to-person transfers. Moreover, the survey found that the most interested age group in paying via WhatsApp were the ones over 65 years old (75%).
With security top of mind for consumers in Brazil and around the world, tokenization has become one of the most effective ways to avoid fraud and allow for more secure and easy digital payment experiences, and as such today in Latin America and the Caribbean more than 60% of Visa’s payment credentials are token ready. Payments on WhatsApp are powered by Visa’s innovative Cloud Token, where transactions are protected by replacing sensitive cardholder information with a unique token or digital identifier that can be securely stored in the cloud.
“Payments on WhatsApp leverages our two core Visa technologies Cloud Tokens and Visa Direct, this is the first time that we are bringing these two platforms together, which marks the beginning of similar implementations around the world,” said Ruben Salazar, Global Head of Visa Direct. “Visa Direct is a modern way to send and receive money in real-time and we are seeing the platform scale all around the world, growing to 3.5 billion transactions globally in fiscal year 2020. In Latin America and the Caribbean, Visa Direct transactions processed during fiscal 2020 grew more than 20X from the year before, largely prompted by growth in person to person payments in the region,” he added.
“We are excited about the availability of this service. Facilitating the sending and receiving of money safely could not be more important at this time, as it not only decreases people's exposure to the pandemic, but also helps loved ones stay connected, broadens access to financial services and enables more people to participate in the digital economy,” said Matt Idema, WhatsApp's Chief Operating Officer.
Providing Consumers Added Peace of Mind
As the shift to digital commerce continues to scale, tokens are becoming one of the industry’s main bets to strengthen payment security, combat fraud and eliminate friction in the payments process. Issuers and merchants both recognize the numerous benefits of payments being secured by tokens, the key one being that personal card credentials are never exposed during the whole purchase process and remain completely protected. In addition, tokens tied to lost, or stolen mobile devices, can be instantly reissued – without the need to change the consumer’s primary account number or reissue the plastic card.
Tokens can also be restricted to specific environments and use cases, helping reduce the chance of fraud and therefore optimizing transaction authorization rates. For instance, a fraudster who attempts to use a token provisioned to a mobile device for an online purchase, will cause the transaction to be flagged immediately as fraudulent and will be declined. Also importantly is that tokens are non-reversible, so the information becomes useless if a third party accesses the data.
As a leader in the digital payments space, Visa is committed to accelerating the adoption of tokenization solutions in Brazil and beyond as they enable consumers, banks, merchants and the wider payments ecosystem to boost authorization, drive innovation and create better and more secure digital commerce experiences.
For more information, visit www.visa.com.
1This survey was commissioned by Visa and conducted by Morning Consult in March 2021 among a sample of 1,000 adults in Brazil. The interviews were conducted online. The audience reflected the general population to ensure representation across age, gender, education, and region. Results from the full survey have a margin of error of +/- 3 percentage points.