Facebook announced on Tuesday that their messenger app users in America will be able to link their debit cards with the app and use the app to message money to each other.
Venmo, Square and SnapChat has also introduced similar services where users were able to send money via their messenger services. Experts are suggesting that with Facebook`s reach and with their payment features, they will send shockwaves through the blossoming market of sending money to each other instantly. According to the market experts in the Wall Street it was an eagerly awaited announcement. The service is known as peer-to-peer payments.
According to the market analysts, if Facebook is successful with their service they will move their interest in the other type of payment system like Amazon, where consumers can buy their products straight from the advertisers. In a statement Robert Peck, an Internet analyst with SunTrust Robinson Humphrey said, “Facebook could use this as a back door to get people’s debit cards to enable the buy button”.
According to the market experts the technology is in a beginners phase in the United Sates, where payment systems like PayPal is the most popular and trusted service. But analysts are suggesting that, as messaging through different apps have overtaken the e-mail services, Facebooks influence with young users will make it one of the most widely used services in the world.
According to the market data, the Facebook messenger has more than 500 million users in the world, which makes them the largest platform for messaging services. Facebook also bought WhatsApp last year for $22 billion, which has more than 700 million active users globally. Different messenger service apps are trying to take a market share in U.S.A. in recent times. According to Facebook they are trying to simplify the process. In an interview Steve Davis, the Product Manager in charge of the project said, “We know that conversations about money are happening all the time. But most conversations begin in one place and end in another place”. According to Facebook, they want to keep the payment and conversation in one thread so that it can be documented. There will be a dollar sign next to the thumb up button in the messenger. By pressing the button it will activate the debit card which is connected to it. People will be able to send money to each other after entering the amount and the whole conversation will be saved as a document. According to Facebook, the money will be transfered between two accounts quickly and it will be offered as a free service.
