Facebook Messenger hack shows mobile payments may be launched soon

Lauren Keating, Tech Times 06 October 2014, 05:10 pm

Facebook Messenger might allow friends to share more than just conversations. According to hacked screenshots, the extension app of Facebook might be making it easier to pay friends back through a mobile payment feature.

According to screenshots taken by a student developer from Stanford, Andrew Aude, Facebook Messenger's payment transfer option already has been developed and could be ready to launch.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg hinted that there would be "some overlap" regarding payments and the Messenger during the company's Q2 earnings call in July. "The payments piece will be a part of what will help drive the overall success and help people share with each other and interact with businesses," Zuckerberg said.

Zuckerberg said the company would take its time bringing mobile payments to the Messenger so they could "do this in the way that is going to be right over multiple years." But the new feature could be launched closer than Zuckerberg predicted.

Aude posted what he uncovered on Twitter on Saturday, suspecting the feature will be turned on in the U.S. in the next few months, even if it is just for in-house testing. He used the iOS app Cycript to turn on the feature after security researcher Jonathan Zdziarski uncovered the Facebook Messenger code a month ago.

Publishing screenshots and video, Aude found that the Messenger's payment features would allow users to send money the same way they would share a photo.

In order to safely transfer money, the app will take funds from debit cards that are previously stored on Facebook, but new cards can be added as well. Users will have to enter a pin code when using the Messenger mobile payment feature for added security. Transactions are kept private on the payment feature.

Aude found that Messenger payments only worked with debit cards, probably because debit cards don't require approvals and are cheaper to process. "Based on my understanding of the debit interchange rates, each transaction will cost Facebook roughly $0.40 to $0.50 (Durbin swipe fee + ACH fee)," Aude says.

The feature is suspected to be initially free, but Aude suspects that could change over time. The potential new mobile payment feature only supported transactions made one person at a time, but according to the code, multiple payments will be included in the future.

Facebook's mobile payment features could compete with other big mobile payment options such as PayPal, Venmo and Square Cash. The hacked Facebook messenger information comes just a few months after Facebook hired PayPal President David Marcus.