Code for Payments Service may be Hidden in Facebook Messenger

MessengerFacebook may be heading towards introducing a peer-to-peer payment service to its Messenger app, with code uncovered in the iOS version pointing towards such a facility.

The code, which was uncovered by Stanford student Andrew Aude, would enable users to send funds to Facebook friends in much the same way photos or videos can be shared at the moment, and would only require a payment card and PIN to be entered.

Based on the existing code, the transaction would be private and free to make, although it is likely that Facebook would eventually institute some sort of fee for money transfers.

This is not the first hint that Facebook was aiming to introduce a payments service, with security consultant Jonathan Zdziarski finding the first traces of the code last month.

Coupled with the recent hiring of former PayPal CEO David Marcus as the vice president of messaging products, the signs are clear that Facebook is laying the groundwork to transform the social network into a payments service in the not-to-distant future.