Facebook Set to Introduce E-Money Transfer Service

Facebook is already one of the most massively used social networking sites on the planet, with the company regularly updating the service with new features and updates. Now it seems like a whole new age of e-commerce is set to dawn upon the service.

According to reports, Facebook is currently planning on a brand new money transfer service that will allow it to compete against the likes of Western Union. The feature will allow users to store money with the social network or even buying items online.

The service, that's currently only set to be introduced for the European nations for the moment, is seeking regulatory approval in its European base in Ireland for "e-money" status. Once approved, the base will then issue digital credits that can be converted into cash by recipients.

While Facebook has declined to comment on the development, but the new move to bring over the service to Facebook highlights the scale of the global money transfer market. "The market for money transfer is very, very large," said Taavet Hinrikus, co-founder of TransferWise. TransferWise is one of three payment services reportedly in partnership discussions with Facebook.

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"For remittance alone the market is worth around $500bn, according to the World Bank, but for money moved between developed nations, as well as between developed and developing individuals and business, the market is valued at an estimated $5tn to $10tn, based on our analysis of global money flow data," Hinrikus added.

As of now, we don't know how the proposed planning will turn out. However, Time states that if successful, "a payments service would be a huge boon for all parts of Facebook's business."

"Though the company makes most if its money from advertising, it pulled in nearly $900 million last year by claiming a fee on transactions carried out via the social network, usually for in-app purchases in video games."

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"However, the migration of casual gaming to mobile apps has caused these fees to decline significantly as an overall portion of Facebook's revenue, from 18 percent at the beginning of 2012 to 9 percent at the end of 2013," the post added.