Facebook Pay: a New Payment System

After some confusion earlier this month about Facebook (parent company) rebanding to ‘FACEBOOK’ to be avoid being confused with Facebook (social media site), they’re now venturing into payment systems. This is only available in the US at the moment, but is supposedly getting rolled out worldwide.

So, What Is Facebook Pay?

It’s a new payment system that works across Facebook, Facebook Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp. It’s a way to shop, send money to someone or donate to a cause, in-app.

It’s completely separate to Libra, the company’s seemingly doomed cyrptocurrency.

What Can Facebook Pay Do?

• Add a prefered payment method, making in-app purchases much more convenient
• Set it up on each app individually, or across all the apps you’re signed up to
• View historic payments, update payment methods + account settings
• Real-time customer support for US users (for now)
• Easily distinguish payment services that are a part of Facebook

How Does Facebook Pay Work?

For now, you can only use it on Messenger.

1. Head to ‘settings’, then ‘Facebook Pay’ on Facebook app or desktop site.
2. Enter prefered payment details
3. Nex time you’re going to make a payment, you can use Facebook Pay.

Most major credit cards + debit cards are accepted, as well as PayPal. Facebook have stated that customer information (card number, bank details etc.) are encrypted and stored securely.

You can opt to have a PIN number or use biometrics, like fingerprint or face recognition (depending on device), for added security.

Capitalising on Social Commerce

Facebook are looking to profit from ‘social commerce’ by offering an easy to use payment system that works across multiple apps.

This brings customers much closer to the buying point, reducing the buyer journey considerably.

But who trusts Facebook these days? A history of scandals might hinder the success of this new payment method. But only time will tell!

Will you use Facebook Pay? If not, why? Let us know in the comments, or drop us a tweet @honchosearch.