A new feature launched by Facebook this week has business owners and every Facebook ad agency (especially ours) rejoicing.
Facebook Pay is a feature that allows you to make purchases from the social media company’s family of apps without being redirected to a different landing page. You can, for example, send payments to your Messenger contacts. You can also purchase digital gift cards from businesses’ pages. When you make transactions using Facebook Pay, you will not incur any processing fees. For those of us who work at a Facebook advertising agency, this is a game-changer.
This feature is currently rolling out to Facebook and Messenger users in the U.S. and internationally in the future. The social media company also plans to roll this out to WhatsApp and Instagram.
Transactions via Facebook Pay are secure and protected. It has the following:
- An anti-fraud feature that monitors suspicious activity
- Data encryption that protects your payment information
- Biometrics and pin options for added security
How to Set Up Facebook Pay on Facebook
Step 1: Click the three-lined icon from the upper-right corner of the screen.
Step 2: Click “Settings & Privacy” then “Settings.”
Step 3: Under your account settings, click “Facebook Pay.”
Step 4: Click “Add Credit or Debit Card” or “Add PayPal.”
Provide your account information then save. Your transaction history, including payments made via Messenger, appears underneath your payment method.
How to Set Up Facebook Pay on Messenger
Step 1: Click your profile picture on Messenger.
Step 2: Scroll down to “Facebook Pay.”
Step 3: Click “Add new debit card or PayPal” then enter payment information.
You can find your Payment history under your payment information. Using Facebook Pay on Messenger, you can send money to contacts or request payments. All transactions occur within the Messenger conversation between you and the recipient. All payments are automatically deducted or added to your account.
What are the Benefits of Using Facebook Pay?
The introduction of Facebook Pay across its family of apps, including but not limited to Instagram and WhatsApp, making it incredibly easy to purchase whatever your heart may desire across platforms at zero fees. The applicability of the saved information streamlines the buying process, and can allow for those individuals who may add to their cart to drop the purchase altogether out of sheer laziness to finally follow through with their purchase.
That being said, you only have to use it on whatever app of your choice. So, if you only ever want to use Facebook Pay on Facebook and not Instagram or vice versa, this payment option has got you covered.
Plus, you can use Facebook Pay for more than just mere shopping. You can use it to send money over Facebook messenger securely. You can donate to charity campaigns that pop up on your Instagram story via a button. It can also be your payment of choice for more exclusive games and events that pop up on your Facebook news feed.
Not only can you spend with whatever payment method you have saved under your Facebook Pay, but it allows for others to automatically send that money your way as well, without even asking for your information. That’s incredibly convenient.
As a bonus, this benefits advertisers outstandingly. There is a wealth of knowledge that can be obtained with more people buying directly off the social media site that will allow Facebook to better tailor to who they will be showing your ads to (which might also ultimately require an increase in ad spending– stay tuned!).
Businesses Can Use Facebook Pay Too
This new payment method can also be taken on by businesses at no cost. It can be especially advantageous to small businesses that may only have an online storefront due to its convenience and Facebook not charging a fee for using it making it a powerful alternative to PayPal, which does charge a fee. However, make sure to have other options in case your customers themselves do not have Facebook pay.
By Anne Felicitas
