(Telecompaper) WhatsApp announced it will stop charging users an annual fee to access the messaging app. Registered users were previously asked to pay EUR 1/USD 1 for the app each year, although this was often waived in promotional offers. Jan Koum, co-founder of WahtsApp, made the announcement at the Digital-Life-Design Conference in Munich. In a blog posting, the company said many users do not have the required credit card to pay the fee online, making it difficult to collect the fee. WhatsApp said it does not plan to introduce advertising in order to finance its service going forward. Instead it will start testing tools that allow users to communicate with businesses and organisations over WhatsApp. Examples include "communicating with your bank about whether a recent transaction was fraudulent, or with an airline about a delayed flight", the company said, noting most people already used to receiving these kind of messages through other channels, such as SMS and calls.