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Everyone keeps focusing on Facebook as an ad platform, and pointing to the difficulty in monetizing mobile via ads. But I'm betting Facebook is on the brink of

Everyone keeps focusing on Facebook as an ad platform, and pointing to the difficulty in monetizing mobile via ads. But I'm betting Facebook is on the brink of rolling out a digital wallet. They already act as an authentication/identity service with hundreds of millions of users. If those users linked their FB accounts to their bank accounts, they'd be able to buy anything on any integrated website that they log into with FB Connect -- or eventually in any store that wants to handle FB payments. With FB taking a small cut of every transaction, I imagine PayPal and Stripe would be in trouble, no? Mobile doesn't have to be about ads....

brk 14y ago
Given their past approach to several privacy and sharing type issues, there is no way in hell I'm buying anything with a Facebook wallet.
- ricree 14y ago
  Nor will I. But judging by the past response to privacy issues, there are a lot of people that will complain for a week before jumping headfirst.
- tedunangst 14y ago
  Which of the following companies paid an FTC fine for sharing user data, Facebook or Google? Do you trust that company with your money? :)
  - deleted 14y ago
    [deleted]
J-H 14y ago
The problem here is would you trust Facebook with your wallet? I wouldn't, and I'm betting most wouldn't after all of Facebook's Privacy gaffes.
- untog 14y ago
  I'm betting most wouldn't after all of Facebook's Privacy gaffes. I think you overestimate the extent to which average users are aware of/care about Facebook's privacy gaffes.
  - chii 14y ago
    of course not - they are called average users for a reason. But when shit hits the fan and someone's privacy was violated and made the media, then FB will have a nightmare of a PR incident, and if there is money involved, probably law suits etc. Its just human nature to ignore what you can - and this privacy problem is a long term problem that tends to get ignored in the short term.
    - scotth 14y ago
      You're assuming that mistakes made in the past are likely to be repeated. It is as likely to assume that Facebook has learned from their mistakes.
      - tedunangst 14y ago
        Also, Facebook is obligated to provide the results of a privacy audit to the FTC for the next 20 years.
      - tjoff 14y ago
        You are somehow assuming that they only had a reason to learn from their last mistake. The fact that there have been numerous mistakes suggests that they don't get it and won't learn from it.
- freehunter 14y ago
  The thing is, those privacy incidents weren't gaffes: they were intentional. As far as I know, Facebook has only had one unintentional mistake when they accidentally DoS'd themselves. There might be more I'm forgetting, but the point still stands. Facebook didn't reset people's privacy settings by mistake. Getting into payment processing will expose them to SOX and PCI compliance. They'll still be able to reset your privacy settings for your profile, but they'd be sued out of business if they did something like that for your payment profile. No matter how much it looks like they do, Facebook rarely makes mistakes.
deleted 14y ago
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batgaijin 14y ago
They waould want NFC control to leapfrog, so I'd bet on a FB phone and apps for others
cfront 14y ago
Well, this sale of 20+ million shares doesn't exactly stand as a vote of confidence for the upcoming Facebook Wallet (TM) does it? I tried to tell him to contact you before filing his intent to sell with the SEC but he wouldn't listen. Hey, what does he know? The Facebook experts are here on HN.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
marquis 14y ago
I read of a bank in New Zealand doing this. Perhaps it's a trial? http://tvnz.co.nz/business-news/bank-app-allows-payments-facebook-friends-4938546 http://tvnz.co.nz/business-news/bank-app-allows-payments-fac...
brudgers 14y ago
>"I'm betting Facebook is on the brink of rolling out a digital wallet." I'm betting they're on the brink of slicing dicing and selling everyone's personal information. It's more profitable. It makes use of their principle asset. There are few comparable companies to act as competitors. It's a really big and lucrative market. And it solves their problem with monetizing mobile.
- daveying99 14y ago
  You could both be right. Login with Facebook, buy with 1 click. And let the merchant know all kinds of information about you to show you the right products.
cmircea 14y ago
Google already has this with Checkout (now Wallet) and it isn't terribly popular.
Ryan_Shmotkin 14y ago
Thats what up at previous discussion http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4042495 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4042495

brk 14y ago

Given their past approach to several privacy and sharing type issues, there is no way in hell I'm buying anything with a Facebook wallet.

ricree 14y ago
Nor will I. But judging by the past response to privacy issues, there are a lot of people that will complain for a week before jumping headfirst.
tedunangst 14y ago
Which of the following companies paid an FTC fine for sharing user data, Facebook or Google? Do you trust that company with your money? :)
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]

J-H 14y ago

The problem here is would you trust Facebook with your wallet? I wouldn't, and I'm betting most wouldn't after all of Facebook's Privacy gaffes.

untog 14y ago
I'm betting most wouldn't after all of Facebook's Privacy gaffes. I think you overestimate the extent to which average users are aware of/care about Facebook's privacy gaffes.
- chii 14y ago
  of course not - they are called average users for a reason. But when shit hits the fan and someone's privacy was violated and made the media, then FB will have a nightmare of a PR incident, and if there is money involved, probably law suits etc. Its just human nature to ignore what you can - and this privacy problem is a long term problem that tends to get ignored in the short term.
  - scotth 14y ago
    You're assuming that mistakes made in the past are likely to be repeated. It is as likely to assume that Facebook has learned from their mistakes.
    - tedunangst 14y ago
      Also, Facebook is obligated to provide the results of a privacy audit to the FTC for the next 20 years.
    - tjoff 14y ago
      You are somehow assuming that they only had a reason to learn from their last mistake. The fact that there have been numerous mistakes suggests that they don't get it and won't learn from it.
freehunter 14y ago
The thing is, those privacy incidents weren't gaffes: they were intentional. As far as I know, Facebook has only had one unintentional mistake when they accidentally DoS'd themselves. There might be more I'm forgetting, but the point still stands. Facebook didn't reset people's privacy settings by mistake. Getting into payment processing will expose them to SOX and PCI compliance. They'll still be able to reset your privacy settings for your profile, but they'd be sued out of business if they did something like that for your payment profile. No matter how much it looks like they do, Facebook rarely makes mistakes.

deleted 14y ago

[deleted]

batgaijin 14y ago

They waould want NFC control to leapfrog, so I'd bet on a FB phone and apps for others

cfront 14y ago

Well, this sale of 20+ million shares doesn't exactly stand as a vote of confidence for the upcoming Facebook Wallet (TM) does it? I tried to tell him to contact you before filing his intent to sell with the SEC but he wouldn't listen. Hey, what does he know? The Facebook experts are here on HN.

deleted 14y ago
[deleted]

marquis 14y ago

I read of a bank in New Zealand doing this. Perhaps it's a trial? http://tvnz.co.nz/business-news/bank-app-allows-payments-facebook-friends-4938546 http://tvnz.co.nz/business-news/bank-app-allows-payments-fac...

brudgers 14y ago

>"I'm betting Facebook is on the brink of rolling out a digital wallet." I'm betting they're on the brink of slicing dicing and selling everyone's personal information. It's more profitable. It makes use of their principle asset. There are few comparable companies to act as competitors. It's a really big and lucrative market. And it solves their problem with monetizing mobile.

daveying99 14y ago
You could both be right. Login with Facebook, buy with 1 click. And let the merchant know all kinds of information about you to show you the right products.

cmircea 14y ago

Google already has this with Checkout (now Wallet) and it isn't terribly popular.

Ryan_Shmotkin 14y ago

Thats what up at previous discussion http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4042495 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4042495