Meta Platforms Inc’s cryptocurrency wallet, Novi, will allow users to send and receive money through the social media giant’s messaging app, WhatsApp.
The pilot program is open to a limited number of people in the United States, Novi head Stephane Kasriel said in a tweet late on Wednesday.
Using Novi does not change the privacy of WhatsApp personal messages and calls, he said.
Meta Platforms, formerly Facebook, has been working on the wallet app for several months, while scaling back its global plans for rolling out a digital currency called Diem on regulatory concerns.
With the Novi wallet and Pax Dollar stablecoin
The feature is powered by Novi, Meta’s digital wallet that launched as a pilot six weeks ago, with payments made using Pax Dollars (USDP), a stablecoin pegged to the US dollar issued by Paxos.
According to Novi’s website, sending a payment works much like sending any other attachment in WhatsApp. You access the feature via the paper clip icon on Android or the + icon on iOS, and then select “Payment” from the menu that appears. Novi’s site notes there are no fees for sending or receiving money, no limits on how often payments can be sent, and no fees to keep a balance in your Novi account or to withdraw it to your bank account. Payments are transferred instantly.
Source: Reuters