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FACEBOOK TO TEST MOBILE PAYMENTS SERVICE

Facebook plans to test a mobile payments service that lets users
make purchases inside mobile
applications using payment information they have added to
their account on the social network.
Facebook Inc. said Thursday that it is working on a "very small test" and the company says there
is no set schedule for making the service available to users. The
service would use payment information that shoppers store
on Facebook to automatically complete checkout forms of certain mobile apps. Then, the
app would process the purchase.
Spokeswoman Tera Randall said in an e-mailed statement that
Facebook has a "great
relationship with PayPal, and this
product is simply to test how we can help our app partners
provide a more simple commerce
experience."
The test, she added, won't involve moving payment processing "away from an app's
current payments provider, such
as PayPal." Nonetheless, shares of PayPal's owner, eBay Inc. declined on
news of the potential
competition. The stock closed down $1.05, or 1.9 percent, at $
53.18.
Facebook's stock closed down 9
cents at $36.56. Forrester Research analyst Denee Carrington thinks Facebook will face a challenge in offering
mobile payments even though the company has been building up its database of users' credit cards.
"Consumers want safe, seamless
and convenient mobile payments
and there are a growing number
of competitors that consumers trust more — such as PayPal, Visa
(V.me) and others," Carrington said in an e-mailed statement.