WhatsApp and Stripe enable chat payments in Singapore

The feature is built on Stripe Connect and Stripe Checkout and allows both Singapore customers and businesses to buy and sell directly in WhatsApp without being required to go to a website, open a different app, or carry out the payment in person.

WhatsApp, Stripe collaboration details and what it means for payments

Based on the information provided in the company’s press release, following this integration, supported payment methods include credit and debit cards alike, together with PayNow, a real-time payment system that is popular in Singapore.

Commenting on the collaboration, Stephane Kasriel, head of fintech at Meta advised that following this announcement, Singapore-based people are enabled to pay their local merchants leveraging WhatsApp in a matter of a few taps. Per their statement, the simplified and secure experience is believed to help transform the way in which people and businesses alike in the region connect on WhatsApp.

Adding on this, Sarita Singh, regional head and managing director for Southeast Asia at Stripe stated that most people they know in Singapore use WhatsApp to chat with each other, and following this collaboration, they are enabled to leverage the app to also pay local businesses. The spokesperson added that the speed and convenience associated with payments through WhatsApp are set to assist businesses with expanding their revenue streams with new channels and access to an increased customer base.

Stripe has announced a partnership with WhatsApp that enables Singapore-based businesses to accept payments in WhatsApp chats.

The announcement further details that the option to enable payments on WhatsApp in Singapore is available to local businesses that leverage the WhatsApp Business Platform, which is set to include a Stripe account. What is more, as of now, the feature is available to a small number of Singapore-based businesses, with plans to be made available to an increased number in the months to come.

Per the press release information, following its 2010 launch, Stripe has been working towards the improvement of online payments. Currently, the company features over 100 optimisations that look to improve each aspect of the checkout experience, including pre-built payment UIs and more than 40 payment methods. Singapore-based businesses that leverage WhatsApp for payment acceptance are enabled to also be provided with access to the Stripe Dashboard, a tool that assists with managing all their Stripe data in a single place.

Stripe, WhatsApp recent developments

When talking about in-app payments acceptance, both companies had separate announcements which showcased developments in the area.

Stripe was amongst the three companies that partnered with Microsoft for the launch of Microsoft Teams payments in the US and Canada, alongside PayPal and GoDaddy. A separate, noteworthy collaboration is that with Uber, following which it assisted the enterprise with expanding its payment offering for Uber Rides and Uber Eats.

Earlier in April 2023, WhatsApp made public that Brazil-based users were enabled to carry out payments to merchants in the region directly from the chat. A similar situation took place in South Africa beginning of March 2023, where mobile messaging payments in WhatsApp were made possible following a Clickatell and Telkom collaboration.