Next month will have Facebook offering social networkers a fresh mobile payment system that will allow them to make purchases within apps using their login information. This however, will be launched as a test, while Facebook has apparently stated that its current motive is solely to proffer a convenient checkout procedure and not focus on payment processing.
Naturally, the service will eventually act as a competitor to the likes of PayPal, Braintree, Klarna, Stripe and other such services, that is if it ever goes beyond the testing phase. The first partner to have stepped aboard is America-based JackThreads which is an online destination for men’s apparel.
From what can be gathered, those who have already rendered their credit card information to the social network will be able to purchase items from a partner retailer without typing in their billing details. Their Facebook login details would be enough. Coming from a post on AllThingsD, it noted that this step may benefit the company as well as advertisers by granting data about understand users’ shopping habits when not signed in to the SNS.
Sucharita Mulupuru who is a retail analyst at Forrester Research indicated that the company may have trouble building a network in this field, considering the trust factor when it comes to revealing sensitive details to a social network site. She went on to highlight PayPal’s footprint in the market, suggesting that entering the segment late could prove to be a disadvantage for Facebook.
Commenting on this subject, a PayPal spokesperson seemed unperturbed by this latest development at the Menlo Park quarters, claiming that they have a ‘great relationship’ with Facebook. He also spoke about mobile devices contributing to 10 percent of their entire payment volume in 2012, while adding that the company is open to competition.
Even though this test is set to launch in September, Facebook has yet to confirm as to when the service will precisely kick off.