WhatsApp’s goal of becoming a safe haven for businesses

WhatsApp’s goal of becoming a safe haven for businesses has taken another step closer as the Meta-owned messaging platform introduces new features. These include the ability to search for businesses more easily, direct access to WhatsApp Number.

WhatsApp now lets you search for small and large businesses by categories like travel or banking. You can also search for companies by name. There will be a “Discover Business” option to easily search for businesses, eliminating the hassle of finding business phone numbers from their website.

Company Search is designed to be secure and performed in a way that no one will know a search was performed on your account. The service is currently deployed in Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia, Mexico and the United Kingdom. In Brazil, small businesses can also be sought.

It’s worth noting that WhatsApp’s business search is specific to its business platform.

WhatsApp has also introduced debit and credit card payments in chats in Brazil. So making purchases directly from the messaging app won’t be a hassle. The feature, first launched in India, introduces the ability to shop on JioMart from WhatsApp. The new feature comes after WhatsApp launched WhatsApp.  Pay in one of its key markets, Brazil, but was halted by the country’s central bank. However, it was launched in India.

Not in France yet

In a blog post, WhatsApp said it would be a “game changer for people and businesses who want to buy and sell on WhatsApp without having to visit a website, open another app or pay in person.”

It remains to be seen when business search on WhatsApp will expand to other regions, including France. As for the shopping experience, we’ll have to see if it works in other countries as well.