As of late 2025, the specific prediction that WhatsApp and Facebook would have a built‑in buy‑now‑pay‑later (BNPL) feature has not fully come true.

WhatsApp:

• Official WhatsApp Payments (the in‑app payment product) in India is UPI‑based and explicitly does not offer any wallet, credit line, or BNPL functionality as of 2025.(gitakart.in)
• BNPL can appear around WhatsApp via third‑party solutions (e.g., hoolah/Jumper.ai, valU/PayTabs/notchnco, Zaakpay/MobiKwik, and various payment‑link providers), which let merchants send BNPL payment links or run conversational commerce flows inside WhatsApp chats. But in all these cases the BNPL is provided by external fintechs using WhatsApp’s business APIs and links, not by a native WhatsApp/Meta credit or installment product.(thefintechtimes.com)
• Multiple overviews of WhatsApp Payments in 2025 still list “no credit lines or BNPL” as a core limitation, reinforcing that WhatsApp itself hasn’t added a built‑in BNPL feature.(gitakart.in)

Facebook / Instagram (Meta):

• Meta’s commerce surfaces on Facebook and Instagram support Shop Pay as an integrated checkout option, via Shopify’s "Facebook & Instagram" sales channel and later expansions that made Shop Pay available to any merchant selling on Facebook/Instagram.(shopify.com)
• Shop Pay Installments is Shopify’s BNPL product (powered by Affirm) and is a feature of Shop Pay itself. Shopify describes Shop Pay Installments as a buy‑now‑pay‑later option that lets buyers split purchases into interest‑free installments.(shopify.com) Independent analyses note that Shop Pay (and thus its BNPL capability) can be used on Facebook and Instagram as part of those on‑platform checkouts.(unitedcapitalsource.com)
• However, this BNPL is not a Meta‑branded credit feature inside Meta Pay or Facebook Marketplace; it is surfaced only when a merchant uses Shop Pay in Facebook/Instagram Shops. Guides for Facebook Marketplace still state there is no native BNPL integration there, and suggest workarounds using separate BNPL or cash‑advance apps.(joingerald.com)
• Separately, Meta does offer a BNPL‑style plan for its Quest 3 headset ("Play Now, Pay Later") via Affirm, but that is tied to hardware purchases, not a general social‑platform payment feature on Facebook or WhatsApp.(benzinga.com)

Assessment:

• The prediction named both WhatsApp and Facebook as examples of major social platforms that would themselves add BNPL functionality.
• By 2025, Facebook/Instagram commerce does expose BNPL at checkout via Shop Pay Installments, but WhatsApp still lacks any native BNPL or credit feature, and Facebook’s core consumer payments (Meta Pay, Marketplace) do not have a Meta‑owned BNPL product either.

Because a central part of the prediction (WhatsApp gaining built‑in BNPL) has clearly not happened by now—and the remaining pieces are only partially realized through third‑party integrations rather than true native BNPL—the overall prediction is best classified as wrong (so far) rather than right, ambiguous, or merely “too early to tell.”