Amid the data privacy-related headlines that have been dominating Facebook’s existence as of late, the company is carrying through with its efforts to expand in India, where the social media giant is moving into payments.
FactorDaily reports that the company’s payments initiative comes through the confirmation of two sources, unnamed, who said the company has been constructing a payments platform. That platform would operate independently of WhatsApp and, according to one source, would allow for peer-to-merchant payments.
The platform, then, would underscore commitment to the market there, with its 2.1 billion users. Marketplace, as FactorDaily noted, lets users buy and sell items within their Facebook communities, and, via Messenger, companies can target and transact with the service’s users. One of the anonymous sources told FactorDaily that “online commerce really works when you can complete the entire transaction without getting out of the app.”
Facebook India has brought to market a beta version of the services that would recharge payments that are, in turn, used for mobile devices and prepaid services, done through Messenger, as confirmed by the second source, who also noted that the service is marked by smaller transaction values but high volumes.
Facebook’s push into payments in India comes on the heels of WhatsApp’s debut.
The social media company has some templates to follow, having brought payments on Messenger to Europe via the U.K. and France, and peer-to-peer money transfer in the U.S. debuted last year.
The India efforts and beta tests come four months after the company hired Sunali Rohra from Visa; the executive now helms efforts in the region. Rohra, said FactorDaily, has been involved in bringing Bharat QR to market.
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