Facebook is now a mobile payment company. The social network announces its free payment service coming to United States.
- Facebook announces mobile payment service bundled with its messenger platform.
- Users in United States can send or receive money, but with debit cards only.
- Facebook said per transaction is free of charge.
We all know it’s coming. Facebook, the largest social network from Menlo Park, California, is now a slim mobile payment service. So what’s next? A payment platform you can use to pay for items listed on the main news feed?
Registered users of the social network with an Android smartphone, or an iPhone, and Facebook Messenger app installed, can soon send and receive money, for free. The Facebook Messenger on desktop web browser is also supported.
In a new press release, Facebook announces “payments in messenger,” a feature coming to United States market over the coming months. The main purpose of the service is to allow sending and receiving cash payments from one Facebook member to another, for as long as the two are connected, or linked as friends.
The social network’s payment solution is tied up with its own secure credit card, debit card and PayPal payment service. Although for this service, Facebook said users are allowed to transact using Visa and MasterCard debit cards only. In addition, the California-based firm said they will only accept cards issued by United States banks.
Facebook said the payment service is secure, and supports additional layers to protect users from theft like personal PIN support, and integration with Touch ID for iPhone users.
Facebook’s messenger payment service is similar to Square and Snapchat’s recently launched feature called Snapcash.
With the same goal of providing “quick cash”transactions with friends, adding a mobile payment service will give these companies the best chance to attract more users with credit and debit cards, or convince them to save their cards onto their platforms. In return, Facebook, and even Snapchat can launch their very own internet-based shops a la Amazon, or Apple’s iTunes, or Google’s Play Store.
It is still too early to predict whether Facebook can convince its United States-based users to save their cards on the platform, or use its service to send money to friends. But putting a “free” tag on it is a way to catch some attention. Ξ
Credits: Featured image, and video of the Facebook Messenger payment service are courtesy of Facebook’s media services.
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