WhatsApp plans instant payments feature

Facebook-owned application WhatsApp has unveiled its plans to include Novi Payments, a no-fee digital wallet that lets users to send and receive money safely and instantly, in the app.

The company has started a small pilot test of the integration of the Novi wallet in the instant messaging app, according to a WABetainfo report.

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The digital wallet will let users add their bank account or link a card, withdraw money into the bank account, and see their transactions and balance.

The service is not available to the public at present as WhatsApp is testing how to integrate Novi into the app. Nor is there any estimated time of arrival of the feature.

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David Marcus, the co-creator and a board member of Diem and the head of Facebook Financial, tweeted, “Remittances are a critical way to achieve financial inclusion. Today, we’re rolling out a small pilot of the Novi digital wallet app in two countries — the US and Guatemala. People can send and receive money instantly, securely, and with no fees.”