Technology
Would You Trust Facebook with Your Bank Account?
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
(Mashable) – Facebook is moving fast to allow users to send payments to each other. But will users bite?
The answer will be essential in determining the winner of one of the hottest races in the tech industry: payments. Alongside Facebook, startups like Xiaomi and Venmo race giants like Apple and Google for the chance to connect their networks with the wallets of their users.
In the context of its rivals, Facebook’s new service is nothing unique. It will let users send money to Facebook friends through the Messenger app without any processing fee. It’s familiar to those who have used PayPal, Venmo and other payments services that grease online commerce. Facebook’s bet is that the Messenger app, with its comprehensive lists of friends and family, will make it appealing to users to send money.
The savviest part of Facebook’s move may merely be the timing: it is launching the service at a moment of instability in the space, when the existing players are suffering hiccups and bigger tech companies like Apple and Google are muscling retailers for favors.
