Facebook To Give You 1 Click Ability To Purchase Within Mobile Apps? (from Paypal and more!)

Ever see Facebook announce your friends’ birthdays in your wall…and then offer an ability to buy a Starbucks card as a gift?

Remember how superEasy that is to do?  You just have to select the gift, choose the amount, and send it off.  Voila…instant transaction (even if you’re on a mobile phone).

Well guess what.  Coming soon to a mobile phone near you, perhaps….Facebook will be offering you the same easy ability to purchase goods via your wireless device.

As reported by TechCrunch, here’s how this idea works.  Think about buying something now from your mobile phone.  Often, you would have to type in your credit card number on your phone (something that discourages instant gratification due to the tiny numbers and extra effort).

What Facebook will potentially offer is a button that lets you tell Facebook to input the billing information that you already gave Facebook from buying gifts or paying games.

Your payment will be processed via the original payment processor the application originally used.

Facebook merely filled in the information and made it possible for a one-click purchase.

Talk about a time-saver!!

But let’s take that a step further.

Think about Facebook’s stake in mobile advertising.  Let’s say that it currently charges an advertiser 14 cents per click….but that click leads to a $37 purchase online.

BAM – Facebook can now tell the advertiser that their investment is delivering to them *profit*.

Profit – it’s what every business wants!

One thing to keep in mind – it was earlier reported that Facebook was looking to compete with Paypal.  Not so!  Why bother compete when you can maximize the benefits of each service instead?

This news has sparked quite a lot of discussions:

• Marketwatch:  Facebook testing online payment system similar to PayPal
• PC Mag: Facebook testing new mobile payment option
• C|Net:  Facebook to take on Paypal?  No so fast!

So what does that mean for you as a consumer or you as a business?

The more data Facebook can gather from online transactions…the more data they can provide advertisers that their expenditures are making them money in the long run.

And customers get the benefit from a 1 click simplicity that allows them to buy even more.

Truly… a win win for all involved – Facebook, businesses that advertise, and consumers.

Although of course, yet again…it’s more privacy that goes, byebye.

I’d bet the majority of consumers would be quite willing to buy into it…how about you?

Grow strong,

Barbara Ling