In a surprise move, Whatsapp has remove its annual fee of $0.99 making the messaging service free for all on all mediums.
Speaking on the matter, the company post on its blog citing "For many years, we've asked some people to pay a fee for using WhatsApp after their first year. As we've grown, we've found that this approach hasn't worked well. " One of the reason that they mention it's not working well is that most of the users don't even have a credit or a debit card.
You're probably be thinking Oh no, it's only a matter of time before I start seeing advertisements on my Whatsapp because what then would Whatsapp do for revenue? On that matter they said that they would look into tools that would allow us to use Whatsapp to communicate with businesses and organizations that we want to hear from, for example from our banks regarding any transactions or even airlines on our fligh itinerary. Whatsapp might be charging them to use Whatsapp instead of your standard SMS (this move should reduce cost for them).
For those that have already paid, there is no citation on possible refund being made but hey we're only talking about $0.99 cents (used to be around RM3, current new rate should be around RM4~5 if they follow the currency exchange in our country).
This change comes timely as now nearly a billion people are using Whatsapp, and making it free would only help boost it userbase and cement its place as the leading mobile messaging platform. (and maybe one day kill the SMS forever)
Source: Whatsapp, TheVerge
No comments:
Post a Comment