Facebook Testing Credit Card-less Virtual Payment

Facebook set to offer a mobile phone alternative to credit card payments on the web

Industry experts have waited a long time for Facebook to offer a novel means of buying virtual goods and services within their social network. Now Facebook has teamed up with Zong to test their mobile payment service in the Facebook environment.

To get Facebook credits, the user enters his mobile number (rather than credit card details) and the amount of money he wants to exchange for Facebook credits. He immediately receives a confirmation PIN via SMS which, upon entering in the online purchase document, activates the credits. The user is then billed by his mobile carrier instead of his bank.

At the moment, buying credits via Zong is more expensive than buying directly with a credit card, a possible hurdle to the initiative’s success.

Mobile payments are a viable and secure means to buy virtual goods through Facebook, which is important as many users are not willing to transmit their credit card details on the network. Another advantage to mobile payments is that, internationally, mobile phones are more widespread than credit cards.

Successful adoption would offer Facebook the opportunity to make the payment service available to third-party sites, even to the extent of becoming a PayPal competitor.

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