The announcement was not completely unexpected as there have been speculations about the company introducing a payment service. The rumors were fueled when PayPal’s president, David Marcus, joined the company to run Facebook Messenger. In July 2014, the rumors were confirmed by Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, who said that there will be a combination of payment and messaging services in the future.
Facebook said that the service will roll out to users in the US over the next few months. The service will be free and users will have to add their debit-card information to their Facebook accounts in order to send or receive money.
The process to transfer money is simple; all users need to do is click the dollar icon and enter the amount they wish to send. The conversation will be recorded in order to avoid any confusion in the future.
Although online payment services have been gaining popularity, security issues remain a prime concern for people. Facebook has taken sufficient measures to minimize the risk of payment frauds. In the beginning, the service will only allow money to be transferred among friends, and users will be required to generate a PIN, as an extra security measure. The company has also recommended using the "login approval" feature, where users are asked to confirm identities by entering a security number. Also, iPhone users can take advantage of the fingerprint ID technology to prevent unauthorized access.
The new feature is likely to give a boost to the company’s messaging service. Facebook currently supports one of the biggest user bases in the world, with over 500 million users.
With such a large user base, it seems to be the right time for the company to launch its payment system. Later, if it gains traction among users, the company may also start supporting credit cards and allow direct purchasing from vendors.
No comments:
Post a Comment