After releasing the Messenger Platform focused on chatbots a few months ago, Facebook has been adding to its list of capabilities to make it more robust and useful. Just last month, the social media giant had announced that it is adding payment support via debit/credit cards, with other payment solutions still in the pipeline.
And surprisingly today, the digital payment behemoth PayPal has announced via a press release that it is looking to social media to further grow its user base. The company says that it is extending its relationship with Messenger to further push its agenda of making mobile commerce smarter, simpler and more secure for consumers as well as merchants.
This integration not only means that you’ll be able to transact using PayPal’s payment service natively inside Messenger but will also make it easier for customers to link their accounts to Facebook and Messenger at checkout. In addition, it has also rolled out support for notifications and receipt management for PayPal transactions for users in the United States. This service is expected to extend to international geographies sometime in the near future.
This integration opens up PayPal to the billion users strong messaging platform, which has now been recognized as one of the most secure apps as well.
Commenting on the launch of this integration, Bill Ready, EVP & Chief Operating Officer at PayPal says,
Our focus on partnering with innovative companies to create better experiences for merchants and consumers remains strong.
Over the last few months we have announced deals with Visa, MasterCard, Telcel and Claro, Vodafone and Alibaba, in our bid to drive broader customer choice in payments through partnership.
This collaboration continues to showcase our march to be a customer champion.
Thought the release of this integration might come as a surprise to some but Facebook’s head of Messenger David Marcus had previously announced plans for the same. He had then said that the company was currently testing payments in Messenger with a cohort of developers.
For extensive rollout of its payment service within the coming months, Facebook has already partnered with almost every major online payments company, including Stripe, PayPal-owned Braintree, Visa, MasterCard and American Express, among others.
With the advent rise of chatbots, one can expect to see an even tighter integration of a multitude of services within the messaging platform. Facebook currently allows you to create a chatbot for anything ranging from a simple conversational or a news-delivery bot to a food delivery and ticket booking bot on the go. And the increment in the number of integrations on Messenger will only ease day-to-day tasks for both customers and developers alike.
