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Everyone always seems to talk about Facebook for payments. Am I the only one that finds this hard to believe? Why is Facebook in a good position to authorize p

Everyone always seems to talk about Facebook for payments. Am I the only one that finds this hard to believe? Why is Facebook in a good position to authorize payments? They have very few credit cards on file. Besides FarmVille, et al, who exactly is giving their credit card info to Facebook? In what context am I supposed to use Facebook to pay for things? If we're talking about mobile, then we're talking about smartphones. What exactly makes you think Google/Apple are going to lay down and give the keys to the mobile payment castle to Facebook? Google and Apple already have our credit card info, we all already buy things through Apple and Google, and it is a logical step that I would use that same process for buying something with my smartphone in a store. I don't think it is a logical step for me to pull out my smartphone, open my Facebook app and use it to pay for something, anymore than it makes sense to use my Twitter app to pay, or Instagram for that matter. In fact, if we're going to use a third party app to pay for things, I have an app from my bank, why not use that? I just don't see Facebook getting in to mobile payments...

Duff 14y ago
Go to Home Depot. You can now make PayPal mobile payments. You're going to use your bank for payments because you already have low-cost ways to make payments already (ie. checks, debit and credit cards). But... there are millions of people in the US who operate outside of the banking system. They are mostly poor or working off the books in some form. For these folks, the idea of buying a $100 topoff card at a gas station to have access to mobile payments makes sense. How do I know this? Becuase the same folks are paying $5 for a disposable debit card today.
nckpark 14y ago
I picture a payments system on Facebook being geared to person-to-person payments and web payments, not in store, mobile payments. Need to pay back a friend for dinner, split the rent, pitch in for a co-workers gift? FB is a natural place. These type of payments could make people very used to paying with FB as well, potentially opening the door for use in more traditional payment scenarios. Year after year I've been surprised that nothing like this has emerged on FB.
- joeguilmette 14y ago
  But what about Facebook makes them positioned to do this? They're Contact list? That's openly available to devs. If I'm paying a friend, why not use PayPal, or Bump, or just cash?
  - nckpark 14y ago
    The contact list, consumer trust, and appropriate context. A third-party developer offering this has the significant challenge of making users trust them with a payment. People know Facebook and (most) trust them. PayPal or Bump are options, but are distanced from social interactions. I'd be interested to see the usage numbers from younger consumers, as I also imagine (with no data to back me up) that not many teenagers or college students use PayPal. As for cash, again it's an option, but it's pretty clear the world is going plastic. There's a reason Square is a big deal.
    - joeguilmette 14y ago
      The contact list is part of Facebook's open API. They give it away for free. As far as Facebook being trusting in terms of commerce, well... I don't buy it. http://threatmetrix.com/study-reveals-only-a-quarter-of-consumers-trust-facebook-storefronts-to-prevent-fraud/ http://threatmetrix.com/study-reveals-only-a-quarter-of-cons... Also - anyone remember Facebook Marketplace? Me neither. It's been stagnating for years.

Duff 14y ago

Go to Home Depot. You can now make PayPal mobile payments. You're going to use your bank for payments because you already have low-cost ways to make payments already (ie. checks, debit and credit cards). But... there are millions of people in the US who operate outside of the banking system. They are mostly poor or working off the books in some form. For these folks, the idea of buying a $100 topoff card at a gas station to have access to mobile payments makes sense. How do I know this? Becuase the same folks are paying $5 for a disposable debit card today.

nckpark 14y ago

I picture a payments system on Facebook being geared to person-to-person payments and web payments, not in store, mobile payments. Need to pay back a friend for dinner, split the rent, pitch in for a co-workers gift? FB is a natural place. These type of payments could make people very used to paying with FB as well, potentially opening the door for use in more traditional payment scenarios. Year after year I've been surprised that nothing like this has emerged on FB.

joeguilmette 14y ago
But what about Facebook makes them positioned to do this? They're Contact list? That's openly available to devs. If I'm paying a friend, why not use PayPal, or Bump, or just cash?
- nckpark 14y ago
  The contact list, consumer trust, and appropriate context. A third-party developer offering this has the significant challenge of making users trust them with a payment. People know Facebook and (most) trust them. PayPal or Bump are options, but are distanced from social interactions. I'd be interested to see the usage numbers from younger consumers, as I also imagine (with no data to back me up) that not many teenagers or college students use PayPal. As for cash, again it's an option, but it's pretty clear the world is going plastic. There's a reason Square is a big deal.
  - joeguilmette 14y ago
    The contact list is part of Facebook's open API. They give it away for free. As far as Facebook being trusting in terms of commerce, well... I don't buy it. http://threatmetrix.com/study-reveals-only-a-quarter-of-consumers-trust-facebook-storefronts-to-prevent-fraud/ http://threatmetrix.com/study-reveals-only-a-quarter-of-cons... Also - anyone remember Facebook Marketplace? Me neither. It's been stagnating for years.