Facebook Messenger has been more than a messaging application since last year when the app’s functionality expanded to accommodate mobile payments through partner retailer. Facebook Messenger currently supports mobile payments using debit cards, and last month, Vice President David Marcus confirmed that the company is working with a number of payment companies, including PayPal, to allow Messenger bots to accept payments directly within the messaging application. Now, PayPal has confirmed that it will become an available payment option across Facebook’s commerce platform, including Messenger.
If there was any doubt as to whether PayPal and Facebook will become stronger partners for the sake of a richer e-commerce experience, it has now been confirmed by PayPal Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Bill Ready. In an official press release, Bill Ready confirmed that PayPal will become an available payment option across Facebook’s Messenger platform. The statement reads that “it will be easy for PayPal customers to link their PayPal accounts to Facebook and Messenger at PayPal checkout”, and adds that PayPal customers located in the United States will have the option to receive Messenger notifications in regards to their PayPal transactions. As for merchants, these changes will “provide them a more direct opportunity to build relationships” with the large PayPal user base accommodating 192 million active PayPal accounts around the globe. In turn, this will potentially open the payment platform to up to 1 billion Facebook Messenger users. Furthermore, PayPal states that these new payment options will “deepen our partnership with Facebook”, and as Messenger will roll out native payments “our merchants will also be able to accept PayPal payments directly in their bots.”
For now, PayPal will be an available payment option for Facebook Messenger users in the United States. There’s no word on when, or if the service will expand in other countries and regions, but either way, PayPal will continue to find new partners “to create better experiences for merchants and consumers”. Throughout the past several months PayPal teamed up with Visa, MasterCard, Telcel and Claro, Vodafone, and Alibaba, and Bill Ready adds that PayPal will continue to become a valid payment option in more places, online, and in stores.