Messaging service WhatsApp is testing a new chat system that might allow businesses to speak directly with users, a feature it has never offered before, Reuters reported on Thursday. The Facebook-owned company has not made an official announcement on the ongoing tests, but the news agency claimed it had viewed “communications about the project”.

The feature is being tested by a few companies under Y Combinator, a United States based seed accelerator, which helps promising young tech firms grow rapidly, the report said. Experts believe this might be a way for WhatsApp to make more money out of its service, which has largely been offered free since its launch in 2009. Facebook bought the company for $19 billion (approximately Rs 1.27 lakh crore) in 2014 and has often faced questions about whether the large price tag was justified for a product that makes almost no money.

WhatsApp had first hinted at such a service in a blog post in January, 2016, saying it was testing “tools that allow you to use WhatsApp to communicate with businesses and organisations that you want to hear from”. The examples they used was speaking to an airline company about a delayed flight, or your bank about a fraudulent transaction. The documents Reuters accessed suggested that WhatsApp is sticking to ensuring that businesses cannot use the new feature to spam users.