Hernan Garcia

 Link to this post:
 http://www.google.com/buzz/100535338638690515335/Vt1b7nZ6ZdZ/Is-Facebook-secretly-planning-an-internet-wide

12:05 pm Louis Gray: Is Facebook secretly planning an internet-wide payment platform? - Royal Pingdom
12:11 pm Samuel Wood: I would not use Facebook credits to purchase from Amazon, or to order pizza, or anything else. I can do all that now without Facebook credits.

I might use Facebook credits to transfer cash to other people. A surprising amount of people find Paypal difficult to use. No, I have no idea why.

But if Facebook could make it easier for me to pay people directly, and in real money instead of credits (they need a "withdrawal" mechanism, basically), then I might have a legitimate use for it.
12:14 pm Eric Matas: I'd like to see Facebook allow people with "Credits" to buy friendship...or make people join their mafia. Make it interesting!
12:15 pm Louis Gray: I can see this being successful. The question is, why has PayPal been a success where Google Checkout and Google payments are less visible? Could Facebook do well here thanks to brand recognition for the non-techie market?
12:17 pm Jonathan Greene: using facebook connect though to login on a site and pay via whatever is in your "wallet" is very interesting. You can already have a credit card in your profile and now paypal. Seems like Facebook connect is in WAY more places already than Google Checkout ... even Amazon Payments. It's easy ... and very global.
12:23 pm Ben Parr: In a blatant attempt to toot my own horn, I called this back a full year ago. - http://mashable.com/2009/03/28/facebook-virtual-currency/

;)
12:24 pm Linda Lawrey: Just not a fan of credits or payments for virtual goods.
12:38 pm Ian Wright: If Facebook ties up with a global mobile company or buys one itself and moves seriously into this territory then they will have a real opportunity. Given social media uptake usage is being driven by mobile smartphone growth I wouldn't be surprised if we see a similar event occuring on Buzz/Android tie ups. Interesting piece as always Louis.
12:42 pm Louis Gray: That is blatant, Ben. Should I delete it as spam? :)
12:46 pm Jonathan Terleski: Credits work well for micro-payments. They get you out of the mindset that you're paying "X dollars" or "Y cents" for something. It also changes the judgement point -- you've already pre-paid for 400 credits ... now you just need to spend them. Additionally, if I already have a stack of 390 Credits so I can buy non-sense on FarmVille, I might just be willing to throw 10 of those credits at a NYTimes article..
12:49 pm Jeffrey Canton: I'd agree with Samuel - short of transferring to other facebook contacts (towards which I'm already not particularly inclined) I can't imagine using this for much. I barely trust Facebook with my photographs ... :-P
12:52 pm Stephen L Harlow: Selling products on Facebook by Andréa Maria Cecil "Facebook said it would collect 30 percent on the purchases of virtual goods made with Facebook Credits" http://ow.ly/1cOPs

Q - What charge will be too much for actual goods and money transfers?
2:07 pm shanta clark: really i think that its stupid because aint no body fina pay for no stupid shit like that and plus people
got bills to pay HELLO
2:07 pm jordan johnson: fuck that if facebook does that everybody just goin to go back to myspace and tagged...facebook who
ever is plaining to do that you are stupid as fuck u prick....
2:17 pm Ru Viljoen: It would probably work really well and since facebook is encouraging companies to have pages it could extend beyond your friends. In my googlevsfacebook mind I still hope facebook fails miserably though. These buzz commenters are over the top btw.
4:50 pm Richard Zeidel: and we're all worried about google... Research shows we're most 'real' on FB. With FB Connect and a payment platform FB is increasingly becoming THE WEB for most people.
6:48 pm Thomas Power: Facebook is becoming a bank it's obvious with a billion users 2012 what else can they do? http://www.ecademy.com/node.php?id=145288
6:56 pm Sam Sethi: I heard that every site that includes FB connect code will have the option of taking Facebook "AdSense". This will be the biggest threat to Google's core revenue. The question I keep asking is will Facebook ever launch their own search engine.
7:07 pm Thomas Power: Yes of course they will Sam initially using Bing and then their own version. To MZ this whole thing is just a computer game. http://www.ecademy.com/node.php?id=145538
7:18 pm Holden Page: My parents and friends would use it in a heart beat.
7:22 pm Thomas Power: The winner of the game is the one with all the names - 2012 Zuckerberg wins with one billion names unless Google is serious about a fight. Google have to buy Twitter to respond to FB and who's to say what MS and Apple decide? Facebook will catch and pass Google in 2011 and that's before they add Search and Banking http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/facebook.com
9:34 pm Richard Walker: And how, pray tell, will they mesh this with their policy of account shutdown on suspicion your name isn't "real"? (Irina Slutsky, already happened, confirmed in a Steve Rubel Buzz).

I'd love to see the steam coming out of people's ears when they either can't cancel payment, or can't make payment, because of a Facebook issue for which there is no live human support. Also, if payments need to be authenticated with third parties, Facebook may find out that some people aren't using real names after all, causing a whole new wave of shutdowns for TOS violation. I dunno, but I'm skeptical and in a *facepalm*-y mood :)
9:42 pm Jonathan Greene: Richard - an interesting issue for sure. Don't the same challenges apply with PayPal in general. You are as good as your password
9:58 pm Brian Hayashi: Not all transactions need to be evaluated using the same criteria as credit card transactions. Think of Facebook enabling an alternative to gift cards, acting as guarantor.
10:07 pm Richard Walker: Jonathan - yes indeed, but I'd think it strange if Paypal were to suggest.... "buy your Auntie a Hallmark card, seeing as she has been so lonely recently and all. And while you're there, sign up a few of your friends to the service and we'll cut you in on their misc. fees and surcharges. Did you know we have a 2-for-1 Farmville on SecondLife offer? Do you mind if I tell your friends about it? Great! There's only one problem though, your pets need accounts too, so that your friends can buy them treats.... "

you get my point, I'm sure
10:29 pm Jonathan Greene: Richard I do get your point, but it's your friends not Facebook making all those crappy recommendations ... or at least the crappy apps they choose to besiege you with. Farmville be gone!
10:38 pm Richard Walker: But that's where the problem is... Facebook has a direct interest in spreading itself, and Farmville helps to do that. When that is coupled with a direct interest in getting you to make transactions, you have a viral bank with access to your entire social sphere, and many ways it can data mine everything. I'm sure Zuckerberg is a visionary of sorts, but this proposition has too many bad incentives and too few promises for the "consumer."
10:43 pm Jonathan Greene: this should help considerably - http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/facebook_silences_app_notification_spam.php