Facebook will be testing a brand new mobile payment app that allows users to make purchases on third party sites using their login information.
This new mobile feature processes and completes a payment by pre-populating a user’s financial information on forms online. The app is set to make it easier and faster for people to make purchases on their mobile, and will help partners to provide a simpler commerce experience.
The simple test due to be rolled out with only several partners, one of which being US online men’s fashion retailer Jack Threads, could make a whole range of data available to advertisers on users’ shopping habits. The trial could also prove Facebook’s effectiveness as an advertising platform for brands.
Facebook has more than a billion users of the site, half of which log in daily. Its popularity has attracted a whole range of advertisers that are keen to utilise the site’s reputation as much as possible. According to the most recent earnings data, Facebook’s advertising revenue reached a huge $1.6 billion in the April to June quarter of this year.
Other companies have looked into launching the exact same feature, but no competitors yet have got as close to the finishing line. Experts claim this app could rival its mobile payments partner Paypal, however Facebook are attempting to distance themselves from these claims. The social networking site explains that this trial is simply a test to see how effective the feature could be, and how profitable it could be for its partners.
The site has already been gathering its users’ financial information through the launch of its gifting service last year that lets consumers to give a gift to a friend by attaching a message and posting it on their timeline or privately.
I never think its easy to buy things on your phone dont think this will work really also sick of facebook thinking more about its advertisers than its users