Mark Zuckerberg, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Meta, revealed that the company would be introducing a new "payments in chat" option on Instagram. Instagram users in the United States now have access to a new feature that enables them to make purchases from small businesses and keep track of their orders using direct messages.

Users can begin utilizing the new feature by sending a direct message to a qualified small business that they are interested in purchasing from. After that, consumers can pay for their purchase, track their order status, and ask the company any future questions directly in the same chat thread. According to Meta, making a purchase through DM also grants the buyer access to in-app chat assistance.

With the new feature, small business owners can:

  • Real-time communication with customers to answer questions and confirm order details.
  • Make a payment request that includes the item's description and cost.
  • Request and receive payment.

Meta - Instagram's New Payments Feature

Image Credits: Meta

A screenshot that was uploaded to Meta demonstrates that once a buyer has opted to make a purchase, the seller is able to generate a payment request for the customer. As soon as a user clicks the "Pay" button, they will be prompted to enter and review their payment information, as well as their shipping address. The text that appears on the screenshot states, "your payment will be processed by PayPal."

As Meta points out, this means that retailers in the US who don't already use Shops can talk about their products, take orders, and process payments with their customers without switching apps. Shops on Instagram and Facebook are great options for companies ready to launch their online stores.

Meta Newsroom - Instagram's New Payments Feature

Image Credits: Meta Newsroom 

Last month, Meta officially changed the name of Facebook Pay to Meta Pay and launched a brand new feature. People will continue to have the same product features and overall user experience with Facebook Pay across Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger. This is because Facebook Pay is integrated across all of these platforms. 

At the time of the rebranding, Zuckerberg stated that although the service will remain the same, the rebranding symbolizes the first step toward building a digital wallet for the metaverse. He claims that his idea for a digital wallet in the metaverse will allow users to safely manage everything they own, how they make payments, and all of that without concerns about someone stealing their personal information.