The new service was one of several announced in a Thursday (Sept. 18) press release by the tech giant as it hosted its second business summit in Mumbai, India.

“Available on the app, small businesses can now quickly share QR codes in one tap for fast and efficient sales closures, enabling customers to pay directly within WhatsApp using their preferred payment method,” the release said.

As PYMNTS reported earlier this year, it’s now more crucial than ever for merchants to make sure they offer customers the payment methods they want to use, when they want to use them.

The PYMNTS Intelligence report “What Consumers Do When Their Go-To Credit Choice Is Unavailable” found that there are several scenarios in which retail payments can run into roadblocks. For example, a customer might be nearing their credit limit or may discover that they want to use a card that has rewards connected to the purchase.

“When the friction is in the mix, consumers may be tempted to switch to another payment option, which takes time, or they might opt to walk away from the purchase altogether, which has a dual, negative effect,” PYMNTS wrote in April. “The customer does not get what they wanted, and the merchant loses out on incremental revenue.”

Of the 2,342 consumers surveyed by PYMNTS, among consumers who recently made an essential purchase using credit, 76% paid with credit cards, 6.1% used buy now, pay later (BNPL) or other installment plans, and 18% turned to some other type of credit.

“The preferences for certain payment vehicles remained relatively consistent for nonessential purchases, where 73% used credit cards, 10% used BNPL or installment plans and 18% opted for another type of credit,” the report said.

Meanwhile, in another new service aimed at small businesses, Meta said in the Thursday press release that merchants can now use the WhatsApp Business App and the WhatsApp Business Platform simultaneously without changing their phone number.

“If a business is expecting a surge in customer messages on WhatsApp from the marketing campaigns (like CTWA) or if they want to enable automation, they can use the WhatsApp Business Platform (API), while they can continue to use the WhatsApp Business App for day-to-day interactions like group chats, calls and status updates,” the release said. “This provides significant flexibility and scalability for businesses that are scaling and growing at a faster pace.”

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