Business plan: first connect 1.25 billion people. Then let them share stuff. Start with heartfelt messages, pithy gifs and invitations. But then get to the serious matter: MONEY. That’s part of the enviable Facebook plan, and on Tuesday the company announced that Facebook users can now send money to one another using Facebook’s messaging app, Messenger. Currency just got more current. And it’s free.
Facebook discovered, naturally enough, that many user exchanges on Messenger had a money component–and that users would have to go elsewhere to complete a transaction. Now they can stay within the Messenger app. By enabling users to do more, the payments feature makes the Facebook ecosystem more complete. Users have one less reason to leave the Faceboook ecosystem, which is the goal. Facebook is not trying to monetize the money transfer product. “We’re not trying to make a profit out of payments,” Facebook product manager Steve Davis told Re/code.
