Tag: facebook mobile payments

Facebook breaks into mobile payments

| March 20, 2015

Facebook has announced a new service that will be available for the Messenger app

Facebook is making its first official entry into the mobile payments space. The social media company has announced that it will soon allow users of its Messenger application to send and receive money. The service will be free, but will see a limited initial launch in some parts of the United States. The launch will be taking place over the next few months, eventually be made available to all Messenger users in the country.

New service will allow users to send and receive money over Messenger

Facebook has partnered with Visa and MasterCard in order to make the service available. Those with Visa or MasterCard cards, as well as those with debit cards from a U.S. bank, will be able to transfer money through the new service. The service will be accessed through a “$” icon that will be added to the Messenger app in the near future. Once this icon is tapped, users will be able to note the amount of money they can send to their friends. All those using the service will have to link their financial information to the Messenger app.

Consumer information will be stored in a secure environment

Facebook - Mobile PaymentsFor security purposes, users will have to use a PIN number to authorize money transfers. The company notes that all financial information will be kept in a secure environment that is entirely separate from other parts of Facebook. The service will also be monitored by fraud prevention specialists, who will analyze the service to determine whether or not suspicious activity is present among users.

Facebook will face competition from other companies entering the mobile payments space

Facebook has been showing strong interest in mobile payments for some time. The company sees a great deal of promise in this sector, largely due to the number of consumers that spend money online over their mobile devices. Facebook will be competing with other companies involves in mobile payments, such as PayPal, and may soon be competing with Twitter and other social media platforms that have recently entered the space.

Facebook takes a step toward mobile commerce

| September 27, 2013

New partnerships could give Facebook a foothold in mobile commerce

Facebook has shown some interest in mobile commerce recently, but has yet to take any aggressive action on this interest. The social network facilitates mobile payments, mostly through the variety of social games it supports, but does not boast of a major presence in the mobile commerce sector. That may soon change, however, as Facebook has announced its partnership with PayPal, Stripe, and Braintree. The partnership with these companies may help Facebook gain a foothold in the mobile commerce space.

New service designed to make payments more convenient

Through the partnerships it has made, Facebook intends to deploy its “Autofill With Facebook” service. The service is meant to enhance the payment experience, making purchasing items online more convenient for consumers. The service functions like typical autofill features for web browsers, but focuses on financial information. Using the Autofill service allows consumers to store their financial information with Facebook, which can access this information to fill out payment forms in a convenient manner.

Facebook mobile commerceService is meant to supplement mobile commerce services

The service is not meant to compete with other mobile commerce services. Facebook intends for the Autofill service to be a supplement to mobile commerce, making payments less of a hassle for consumers on mobile devices. Facebook may eventually seek to compete in the mobile commerce space, but is currently content to provide auxiliary support for the wide variety of mobile commerce services that currently exist, all of which are vying for the attention of consumers.

Facebook focuses on marketing

Facebook currently has a strong focus on marketing rather than mobile commerce. The social network is working to become more attractive to marketers by improving its services relating to mobile advertisements. Last year, the social network introduced Facebook Graph Search, which is meant to give users a very deep insight into the various demographics that make use of the social networking platform. This search engine has been relatively well received by marketers.