- Facebook launched its new payment system- Facebook Pay
- It puts the company closer to the dream of Mark Zuckerberg to harmonize all the features on Facebook.
- The new payment system is different from their Calibra wallet based on bitcoin, which runs on the Libra network.
- The company said that it will also be rolled out on Instagram and WhatsApp without specifying a timeline.
Facebook launched its new payment system in the United States last night. Via Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram, the service will allow you to pay other people and businesses.
You can add your debit or credit card to Facebook Pay and choose whether in certain apps or all Facebook apps you want it to be available. The platform will be available to pay for fundraisers, in-game sales, event tickets, person-to-person transactions, and select pages on Facebook Marketplace at the start of Facebook and Messenger. The company said that it will roll out on Instagram and WhatsApp without specifying a timeline.
source: facebook blog
How to use Facebook Pay?
You need to follow these simple steps to begin using Facebook Pay:
- Go to the website or app on Facebook and choose Settings
- Choose the ‘Facebook Pay’ option
- Choose a method of payment
- Use Facebook Pay whenever you make the next payment.
In contrast to other payment systems such as PayPal and Stripe, Facebook Pay is compatible with most debit cards and credit cards.
In addition, Facebook Pay is designed to track fraud to detect fraudulent behaviour and provide account activity alerts. The blog also explains that users will be able to see their history of payment and transaction within the payment system, and payments will not be shared with friends or on the feed unless a user chooses to do so.
WhatsApp Pay in India:
It is important to note that for more than 18 months Facebook has been testing WhatsApp Pay in India. The company confirmed in July that it plans to roll out the service’s full version by the end of the year. Nevertheless, India’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), told the Supreme Court earlier this month that the business is not yet consistent with the requirements for data localization. This could hit a snag on the release plans for the network.
In the US, the company is going to compete with some of the industry’s big names like Square, Venmo, Google Pay, and Apple Pay. It will hope that in order to make this project a success, its huge user base will come to the fore. Nonetheless, due to its shabby history of managing personal data, not many people may be comfortable making transactions on Facebook.
In retrospect, it may be useful for people to buy goods directly from Instagram or send money on WhatsApp to family members or friends.
Facebook Pay puts the company closer to the dream of Mark Zuckerberg to harmonize all the features on Facebook. But it is too early to tell if it is a good idea for the company to roll it out across apps.
The facebook blog states that as Facebook will be collecting information such as purchase date, billing, shipping and contact details, the site will use this information to show you more “relevant content and ads”. For example, when you purchase a basketball on Facebook Marketplace through Facebook Payments, you will start seeing advertisements of basketballs and related accessories. The functionality is set to roll out in the US by the end of the week on Facebook and related applications.
The social media giant has explained in a parallel blog on Facebook Pay that their new payment system is different from their Calibra wallet based on bitcoin, which runs on the Libra network.
