Will Facebook and Uber Join Forces?

Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg spoke with Uber CEO Travis Kalanick on possibly integrating the Facebook Messenger app with the car-hailing service, according to Re/code. The deal, if executed, could be Facebook’s way of heading in the direction of an e-commerce platform – modeled similarly after WeChat and Line in Asia.

The integration of the two apps could help both sides, said Re/code, as Facebook would be adding “a new service to help it get more customer payment information on file to build a base of payment credentials for future e-commerce initiatives.” In addition, after Facebook recently announced its testing of a “buy” button that would let consumers buy items via an ad or company post, the integration could help it get more data for money-transfer products.

Messenger currently has over 200 million monthly users, said Zuckerberg earlier this year, so Uber would also be benefiting by getting access to “millions of potential new users.” However, “it’s not clear what it would take to encourage new customers to continue to order through Messenger instead of the Uber app itself.”

During Wednesday’s Facebook earnings call, Zuckerberg noted that Facebook planned to take its time on deciding how to make money from the Messenger app.

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