14 DAY TRIAL // Twitter may let you buy things straight from messages posted on the platform, but Facebook will apparently let you send your buddies money over the Messenger app.
According to a report from TechCrunch, one Stanford computer science student, called Andrew Aude, used the iOS app exploration developer tool Cycript and managed to come up with some screenshots and a video of a new feature buried deep within the Messenger app that is likely just being tested by the social network at this point.
The payment option Messenger comes with allows people to send money in a message similarly to how they can send a photograph. Users can add a debit card, or use one that they already have used with Facebook.
A pin code is requested before each payment is completed, so there are some security systems surrounding the whole operation.
Basically, if your friends ask you to lend them $20 until next week, you won’t have to meet with them if you don’t have the time for it.
Another potential money-source for Facebook
Facebook could make the money sending feature completely free for users, but it could also monetize Messenger by charging a small fee for money transfers. Whether or not this will happen, we’ll find out about it whenever Facebook actually makes the feature official and introduces it to the world.
This is a really big step for Facebook and could end up placing the company as one important competitor with other similar services, such as PayPal, Square Cash and any other peer-to-peer money transfer apps that are available out there. The extensive reach of Facebook, including the huge number of users, could turn Facebook into a threat for such services.
The fact that Facebook recently hired David Marcus, former president of PayPal, as the head of Messenger now makes complete sense since payment methods are right up his alley.
Of course, Zuckerberg hasn’t exactly made a secret out of its intentions for Messengers. During the second trimester earnings call this summer, he said that there might be an overlap between Messenger and payments over time and that “the payments piece will be a part of what will help drive the overall success and help people share with each other and interact with businesses.”
The Facebook CEO did mention at the time that it might take a while before everything was ready, saying that there was a lot to do before a payment method could be introduced in Messenger. Basically, Zuckerberg wants to make sure that the feature they’re introducing now will be perfect even over several years, in spite of all the technological advancement until then.
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