In a partnership with multiple payment providers Facebook is supporting the capability for consumers to conveniently auto populate billing and shipping information for online purchases made with select mobile apps. Depending on the success, this feature could roll out to more apps or even web eCommerce as an easier way for consumers to submit payment information online.
The “Autofill with Facebook” feature was released in late September as a mobile payments service that enables consumers to auto-populate the needed payment and shipping information fields using their Facebook credentials. It is made possible through partnerships with Stripe as well as the eBay owned BrainTree and PayPal brands. Currently the features are only live with two merchants’ mobile apps, JackThreads and Mosaic, but more supported apps are expected, presumably all interested merchant clients of these payment partners.
Autofill with Facebook continues to have payments processed through the payment service provider, such as BrainTree, PayPal or Stripe. Although this feature takes advantage of Facebook’s massive community of over 1 billion active monthly users, Facebook does not actually process the payments as with the “Login and Pay with Amazon” model. Facebook has dabbled in payments before, such as with Facebook Credits, but for the time being may be more focused on the data and advertising potential. Facebook earns the bulk of their revenue through targeted advertising, and any purchases made that are linked to a Facebook account through the Autofill feature will undoubtedly be used to increase their ad targeting knowledge and efficiency. Being able to track a Facebook user from ad impression to confirmed purchase will also go a long way in showing the effectiveness of their advertisements.
It is expected that more merchant mobile shopping apps facilitated through BrainTree and Stripe will soon be adding the “Autofill with Facebook” feature. But it is also possible that Facebook expand their partnerships to extend their reach further with additional payment service providers and larger merchants directly. The convenience factor of auto-filling payment information on a mobile device can go a long way in encouraging increased sales conversion. Although not as difficult to provide this information via traditional web commerce, one-click and expedited sign-in payment methods have proven to increase conversion for online transactions via computers as well. So it is feasible that Facebook’s Autofill feature may one day be available for standard eCommerce.
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