Facebook Drops WhatsApp Subscription Fee
The 69p ($1) charge has slowed the app's growth in developing countries but Facebook says users will not now be targeted by ads.
14:13 Monday 18 January 2016
The service has nearly one billion users around the world
WhatsApp is free again after Facebook announced it is dropping the service's 69p ($1) subscription charge.
Speaking at a conference in Germany, WhatsApp chief Jan Koum said the annual fee introduced in 2014 to the service's almost one billion worldwide users is to be scrapped immediately.
Prior to 2014 the app had been free for the first year after which users were asked to pay annually for every subsequent year.
But the charge has harmed the app's growth surge in developing countries, according to a blog post by Facebook.
The service insisted it would not attempt to make up the loss in revenue by forcing users to view advertisements.
"Many WhatsApp users don't have a debit or credit card number and they worried they'd lose access to their friends and family after their first year," the post read.
"Naturally, people might wonder how we plan to keep WhatsApp running without subscription fees and if today's announcement means we're introducing third-party ads.
"The answer is 'no'. Starting this year, we will test tools that allow you to use WhatsApp to communicate with businesses and organisations that you want to hear from.
"That could mean communicating with your bank about whether a recent transaction was fraudulent, or with an airline about a delayed flight.
"We all get these messages elsewhere today - through text messages and phone calls - so we want to test new tools to make this easier to do on WhatsApp, while still giving you an experience without third-party ads and spam."
Founded by a Ukrainian immigrant who dropped out of college, Koum, and a Stanford alumnus, Brian Acton, WhatsApp was purchased for $19bn (£11.4bn) by Facebook in February 2014, the largest single acquisition in Facebook's history.
In 2015 a judge in Brazil overturned a ruling that shut down WhatsApp for the country's 100 million users for 48 hours over concerns it was being used unlawfully.
The judge declared the move unconstitutional and the app was allowed back online.
