We love Facebook… where else would we go to see what everyone is doing and most importantly what they and their pets ate for dinner! Facebook already handles a large chunk of our social lives but do we want it to handle our money too? Do You Trust Facebook With Your Money?
The rumour
Leaked memos from Facebook have indicated that there is already a hidden payment option inside Facebook’s messenger tab. Messenger is the instant messaging app which is currently used actively by 200 million people globally. This hidden feature would allow users to send money via their debit card to other users. It is rumoured that the hidden service will be free to use at first which begs the question… what’s in it for Facebook and would you use it?
Speculation is that the social network could be planning to go head to head with other large payment and credit card companies such as Paypal on a commission basis which could be worth up to 50 billion in the USA alone! Facebook are experts at getting us hooked on their products so why not introduce a free service which then becomes a paid service later when we are already accustomed to it?
Will it happen?
Will it happen I think yes. Why do I think it will happen? Well let’s go back to June 2014 when Facebook hired PayPal president and David Marcus to head up Messenger. Why else would they do that? Zuckerberg also stated that “over time there will be some overlap between Messenger and payments.” Again, with 200 million active Messenger users, Facebok has the power to dwarf other payment systems virtually overnight! It’s not inconceivable either given that Snapchat’s 100 million users are now able to send cash to one another after adding bank details to profiles.
Facebook has already turned its attention to profits from business advertising, a move which has proved phenomenally successful so why not also turn its attention to profits from end users using an optional payment system. The network will still be free to use but there will be some added extras.