Meta’s WhatsApp is planning to include Novi Payments, a no-fee digital wallet that lets users to send and receive money safely and instantly.
The company has started a small pilot test of the integration of the Novi wallet in the instant messaging app.
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.
If you already know what is Novi, you probably also know that Novi will launch a small pilot program using USDP — within their standalone app — in two specific countries: US and Guatemala. The same statement was also posted by David Marcus on Twitter, the co-creator and a board member of Diem and the head of Facebook Financial.
But let’s talk about WhatsApp now: in this update, we found references about the wallet to be included in WhatsApp. It’s not so surprising: in the past, Facebook already expressed its willingness to include Novi in the Facebook Family of Apps and Services, like WhatsApp. Seen that Novi prioritizes the privacy of user information, encrypting all financial data, this model is totally compatible with the principles of WhatsApp: ensuring a new secure way to exchange money with friends and family instantly.
It’s not possible to use the service because it’s not available to the public. What does this mean? WhatsApp is testing how to integrate Novi into the WhatsApp app starting with this update, but their tests are internal only (so between their developers) and there is no estimated time of arrival for the feature to come to the public. It must be also said that things like that require a lot of time because there are a lot of regulations to be approved when this implementation will be ready.
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.
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.”
