Facebook, Xiaomi each launch mobile payment services in challenge to Apple, Alibaba
Facebook Messenger will soon let US users send each other money through the app, while Xiaomi said it is launching a money-fund-style wallet for Chinese users.
Facebook's more than one billion users will soon be able to send each other money through the app it revealed this week following a separate announcement by Chinese mobile giant Xiaomi that it is entering the increasingly crowded mobile and online payments market.
Xiaomi, often known as the "Apple of China", announced a brand new mobile wallet system this week as Facebook revealed its ambition to expand into e-commerce related services. Xiaomi is attempting to one-up its competitors with a familiar feature to banking, but not mobile payments: the Chinese company will pay users interest on the money transferred to its digital wallet.
The new Facebook payments system, rolling out to US users in the coming months, is built into the company's Messenger app. After they've connected a debit card to their account, users can tap a dollar sign on the screen to send money to a friend they're chatting with.
Facebook's move to introduce payments comes after it poached Paypal president David Marcus last June, placing him in charge of messaging products.
It will put Facebook in direct competition with start-ups Square and Venmo, which have both built significant US userbases by making it easier for people to send each other money through their phones and pay for goods and services at certain businesses, as well as Snapchat, which added a similar payment function in November.