Those who believe Facebook has reached its innovative peak might have to reconsider after what the social media giant revealed on Tuesday. Facebook added an “outside-the-box” feature to its messenger app—a peer-to-peer payment system integrated into the Facebook Messenger app. As of today users can now send money via their Facebook accounts to other Facebook users in seconds.
How does it work?
With this new feature, Facebook users can now tie credit card details to their user accounts to facilitate transactions. Facebook Messenger app users will now see a new “$” icon above the keyboard. Clicking on the dollar sign opens a payment screen where the transfer will be done. On entering the amount to be sent, Facebook holds the money for a couple of seconds—for verification—and releases the sum to the other party. Money sent to users who have not linked their bank accounts or credit card details to their Facebook accounts, will be held by Facebook till the user completes the linking process.
Is the Payment Gateway Protected?
With former PayPal executive David Marcus leading Facebook’s team, you can bet the payment feature is secure. The peer-to-peer payment system still requires account holders to go through the verification process specified by their individual bank before a card can be added to an account. Users must also create and use a PIN in order to make transactions.
Will it be monetized?
As of now, David Marcus claims that the Messenger app payment system is one of Facebook’s integrated features and there are no plans to seek revenue from it. Users will not be charged any transaction fee when using peer-to-peer payment. But how long will the no-charge policy last?
Facebook currently has over a billion active user accounts on its social media platform and the thought of it not taking advantage of its superior numbers is hard to swallow. Regardless of what Facebook says, Facebook is in a very good position to be able to out-pace peer to-peer payment competitors like Venmo, Square, or even PayPal in the near future with the new Messenger app payment system.
iOS and Android users in the US can now take advantage of Facebook’s peer-to-peer payment as the roll out begins. Will you be using the Facebook Messenger app payment system? Whether the answer is yes or no, share your reasons in the comments below.
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