A survey by Akamai, a cyber protection and digital experience company, estimates that 60,36% of bank users in Brazil would not use WhatsApp Pay, the new payment method on the messenger, because they consider it insecure. Conducted in conjunction with Brazilian Cantarino, the institutions raised users' expectations with the resource, launched in 2019, but which only arrived here in May of this year.

The report, called “The Experience of Account Holders of the Main Brazilian Banks”, collected a sample of 1.100 respondents about the reliability of the payment and transfer system. Of these, 34,18% said they would use WhatsApp Pay. Another 5,45% would not use it because they do not have a debit card.

Negative opinion reflects insecurity on social media

According to Akamai, the negative opinion in the survey about WhatsApp Pay reflects the insecurity of Brazilians on social media. The company points out that in 2020, Brazil ranked 3rd in the ranking of countries with the most cyberattacks, detecting up to 3 billion attempts to steal credentials in the country. Credential attacks, which occur through fake links and messages, could steal banking data, but also direct access to payment through the app.

According to Akamai's Latam industry marketing manager, Sérgio Ferrão, Brazil is also the third country with the longest usage of apps, and the massive amount of data exchanged creates room for the risk of scams. “Online services bring undeniable convenience to the lives of Brazilians, but you need to be aware of the legitimacy and reliability of the digital medium you are using before entering your data,” he says.

In addition to opinions about WhatsApp Pay, the survey found that the number of people using WhatsApp to access their bank account information increased by 43,7% compared to the previous year's survey. In a country with around 120 million users of the messenger, the payment tool may be a widely used resource, but it can also be open to attacks.

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