Facebook updates Messenger bots to enable payment

Facebook Messenger
LIKE THIS? The Facebook Messenger app is now equipped to enable mobile payments

Businesses across the US will now be able to sell products and services through Facebook’s Messenger app. An update to the social network’s recently launched Messenger chatbot platform will enable bots to accept payments without having to send shoppers to external sites for completion of the checkout process.

“Payments can now be integrated into messages, making it easy for customers to shop and purchase without leaving the app,” Seth Rosenberg writes in a post on Facebook’s developer blog. “Messages with payments utilize industry-leading controls and financial information is protected with bank-level encryption.

“Payments will be available for select developers in beta; businesses can apply through the Messenger developer webpage. We expect to roll out this capability more broadly by the end of the year.”

To support purchases through the app, Facebook is working with Stripe, PayPal, Braintree, Visa, Mastercard and American Express, head of Messenger David Marcus told attendees at the TechCrunch Disrupt SF 2016 this week.

Facebook Bots were unveiled in April 2016 to bring a range of new functions to Messenger. American Express was an early adopter of the technology, allowing its customers to get real-time notifications of purchases through the app in June.

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