Granted, the ability to send money to friends or family on Facebook is a feature that has been available on the platform for quite some time. However, the main goal of Facebook Pay is to allow users to track their payment history across Facebook, Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp in one place. Facebook’s vice president of marketplace and commerce Deborah Liu explained in a blog post that Facebook Pay will ease transactions for purchases, charity donations, or transfers across all of its platforms while ensuring that all payment information will be secure and protected. Liu also added that the system is in partnership with other online financial transaction platforms such as Paypal and Stripe, and is entirely separate from the Calibra digital wallet which handles Facebook’s upcoming Libra cryptocurrency that is planned to launch in 2020. On the other hand, the company recently began testing a payment system via WhatsApp in India and has also introduced a catalogue system via its WhatsApp Business extension. Instagram also introduced Checkout in the US earlier this year in March, where users are able to purchase products from shops and businesses within the app. Facebook Pay is expected to first roll out in the US this week on both the parent app and Messenger, while its expected release date on both Instagram and WhatsApp have not been confirmed. The company also expressed an interest in expanding the new service globally but did not specify when that may actually happen. (Source: Facebook (1) (2) via CNet)
