We’ve been hearing about his for a very long time, and we know that Facebook has been testing it. Allowing users to pay for products and services on Facebook Pages might not be that far off. The company is apparently testing e-commerce payments through Pages in Southeast Asia.
The test allows users to buy products and services and pay for them through Facebook, in just a few clicks, without having to even leave the platform. The payments are being made possible with the use of Qwik, a fintech product from 2C2P, a company based in the area. Qwik helps make possible payments through credit or debit cards, and online bank transfers.
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According to TechCrunch which first broke the news, neither Facebook or 2C2P would comment on this test. Facebook’s most “populous” region is Asia Pacific, and Facebook is very popular there. TechCrunch explained that this
[quote]social dominance in Asia also extends to commerce, with many small and independent retailers using Facebook Pages to build and engage their audience and, of course, sell products.[/quote]
The same article estimates the industry to be worth $500 million annually – and this, just in Thailand. This figure is already at least two years old, so imagine what it is today. Thailand is a huge c2c market – one of the biggest in the region and there is a lot of buying behaviour happening through Facebook and Line (the country’s top chat app).
Facebook is where buyers and sellers connect, and then they take it to Line for haggling or final details. It’s obvious that Facebook wants to keep all this behaviour on its own platform. TechCrunch explains that
[quote]Facebook is trialling Qwik with an unspecified number of top Facebook Pages in Thailand, some of which have multiple millions of fans. Once a user taps the link, it redirects them to a new site where they can enter their credit/debit card details or provide their bank account which, with authorization, triggers a bank transfer like an ATM.[/quote]
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In any case, it seems like Facebook is trying to stay ahead of Line, which is already allowing its own transaction systems.
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