“Meta has drawn up plans to introduce virtual coins, tokens and lending services to its apps, as Facebook’s parent company pursues its finance ambitions despite the collapse of a project to launch a cryptocurrency. The company, led by chief executive Mark Zuckerberg, is seeking alternative revenue streams and new features that can attract and retain users, as popularity falls for its main social networking products such as Facebook and Instagram — a trend that threatens its $118bn-a-year ad-based business model.”

“The company plans to launch a new “/pay” shortcut in the United States that will make it easier to send and receive money in one-on-one Messenger chats. The shortcut will roll out to both iOS and Android users.”

“Meta, Facebook’s parent company, is aiming for “deep compatibility” with blockchain technology, according to an internal post on Tuesday from a top executive. In the note to employees, which was obtained by The New York Times, Andrew Bosworth, who will become Meta’s chief technology officer next year, laid out a vision for the social network to adopt and work with various blockchain or cryptocurrency technologies that have collectively become known as web3.”

“Facebook Messenger is testing a feature called Split Payments that lets users share the cost of bills and expenses from within a group chat. To split payments, users will need to click the ‘Get Started’ button in a group chat or the Payments Hub in Messenger. From there, they can split a bill evenly or modify the contribution amount for each individual.”

“Facebook’s financial services chief says the social network is unbowed by the rush of companies into the digital banking market, even as its cryptocurrency and other ventures have yet to get off the ground. The public’s embrace of digital banking during the pandemic has drawn in new competition, which in turn will attract more consumers to the market and benefit all players, David Marcus said in an interview this week.”

“At the center of Facebook’s push into payments is Novi, a digital wallet intended for users to move money around the world quickly and cheaply (free, in many cases). The company had plans to pair it with a “stablecoin” cryptocurrency called Libra, but that was shelved amid regulatory scrutiny, and now the scaled-back project , known as Diem, is overseen by an outside nonprofit group seeking the necessary government approvals.”

“A proprietary Facebook Credits currency fizzled many years ago, and the social media giant’s more recent attempts to spearhead development of the Libra global cryptocurrency bombed so hard that it had to change the product’s name. Consumer trust in largely unregulated social media platforms is weak, and Facebook is one of the least trusted of all major social networks, according to various surveys . But this time around, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is taking a slower and more cautious path to market, even if it takes years.”

“Facebook is now looking to take online shopping to the next level with the use of AI-driven visual experiences. The social media giant introduced the Shop section in the Facebook app last year and brought something similar with the Shop tab on Instagram . So far, tools such as product tags and captions have further helped brands to highlight their products. Ads in product tags made things even easier for businesses to lead shoppers to a dedicated product information page and eventually to their digital storefront for a seamless online shopping experience.”

“Today, we’re announcing new ways to shop across our apps, along with solutions for businesses to personalize shopping with ads, and investments in technologies that will shape the shopping experiences of tomorrow.  The way people shop has changed in the last few decades — from visiting malls, to buying online and now virtually trying on sunglasses from your couch. Commerce has been part of Facebook’s DNA for years, with retail brands using personalized ads to reach customers. Last year, when COVID-19 shut down local economies, we accelerated the launch of Shops to help businesses sell online.”

“Facebook is still riding a pandemic high, with ads successfully driving impulse purchases of everything its users didn’t even know they wanted. But longer term it will need to become more of a destination for users to buy exactly what they know they need. On Wednesday, Facebook reported strong first-quarter revenue that handily beat Wall Street’s estimates, up 48% year over year. It also said it expected to see such a pace of revenue growth to continue, if not accelerate modestly, in the second quarter.”

“Switching apps to post the same content or entering your credit card information dozens of times is a pain. We want to make that easier while giving you better controls to manage your experience. Whether you want to share a story to Instagram and Facebook at the same time, or use your Facebook account to log into Instagram, setting up your Accounts Center will allow you to control connected experiences that work across our apps.”

“Facebook has threatened to pack up its toys and go home if European regulators don’t back down and let the social network get its own way. In a court filing in Dublin, Facebook said that a decision by Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC) would force the company to pull up stakes and leave the 410 million people who use Facebook and photo-sharing service Instagram in the lurch.”

“Facebook Inc. unveiled a new group to pursue payments and commerce opportunities and put David Marcus, co-creator of its Libra cryptocurrency project, in charge of the initiative. Called F2 internally, short for Facebook Financial, the team will run all payments projects, including Facebook Pay, the company’s universal payments feature that it plans to build inside all of its apps. Marcus will continue running Novi, the division that is building a digital wallet to hold the Libra cryptocurrency. He will also be involved in WhatsApp’s payments efforts in countries like India and Brazil.”