Facebook May Introduce Payments Through its Messenger App
October 7, 2014
Facebook is reportedly ready to allow money transactions between friends on Messenger, according to hacked screenshots and video from Cycript. The feature will allow users to send money using a debit card, similar to how one would send a picture. In order to enhance security, an in-app pincode has been added. The reasoning behind former PayPal President David Marcus’ move to head of Messenger is now clear. The app could compete with Venmo, PayPal, and Square Cash.
Andrew Aude, a Stanford computer science student, discovered the feature. He used Cycript to look for iOS code and turned on the payments feature before taking the screenshots and video.
After hitting a button to begin the payment, the user adds the desired amount and sends it, says Aude. All transactions remain private.
“In the short term, we will only support single payment attachment. Multiple payment attachments will be supported in the future,” reports Aude on a note in the code.
“Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on the company’s Q2 earnings call that ‘over time there will be some overlap between [Messenger] and payments. […] 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’,” reports TechCrunch.
He also commented that the change will not come quickly as there is still groundwork to be done.
“To the extent that your models or anything reflect that we might be doing that, I strongly encourage you to adjust that, because we’re not going to. We’re going to take the time to do this in the way that is going to be right over multiple years,” Zuckerberg concluded.
Facebook has declined to comment on the discovery.
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