TUESDAY 19 JAN 2016 12:42 PM

WHAT’S UP WITH WHATSAPP

Facebook-owned WhatsApp has today announced the immediate removal of its yearly subscription cost, replacing it instead with an income-generating business-to-consumer communications model.

Although this sudden move had led to worry that income generation might instead be gained through third-party advertisements, WhatsApp has been keen to ascertain that no such plans are in place. Instead the company will use the app to enhance its business to customer communications, monetising this marketing strategy to generate income lost from the subscriptions.

For businesses based on service provision, such as transport links or consumer goods, the ability to directly contact the customer via instant messenger will allow access to an already flourishing market - spearheaded by services such as Facebook Messenger. However, as business communication will be at the request of the user, WhatsApp is taking steps to ensure consumers are not deterred by spam messages or unwanted business contacts.

In 2014, social media giant Facebook bought out WhatsApp for $19bn; they will undoubtedly be looking to penetrate markets in developing areas where WhatsApp is increasingly popular.

Richard Jones, co-founder and CEO of consumer experience platform Engage Sciences, says, "Instead of charging users a fee, the firm will look to charge firms like banks and airlines that want to contact WhatsApp users directly, as a solution to grow capital. The objective being to make “communication with businesses” just as easy for users as it has done with family and friends; so expect your next flight delay, bank identity confirmation or restaurant reservation to be dealt with on WhatsApp."

Long-term WhatsApp users have already been given a free subscription for life, as acknowledgement of the one-off fee paid upon its download. Up until now, users who downloaded the app later on paid an annual subscription fee of 69p in the UK, or $1 in the US.