Facebook Pay Available Off Facebook, Starting With Shopify In August

The cozy and consolidated universe of payment and digital wallet providers got a little less comfortable on Wednesday (July 14) after social media giant Facebook announced that its Facebook Pay service will, for the first time, be available off of its own platform, starting with Shopify vendors in August.

The announcement marks the latest move by the California-based social media giant that will tighten up the competition within the lucrative payments sector.

According to a statement from the company that was founded by billionaire Mark Zuckerberg, the move marks the latest revision toward facilitating monetary transactions, and follows a previous move in June to enable them at a deeply discounted rate compared to rival offerings from Apple, Google and PayPal.

Facebook’s two-pronged attack to gain digital wallet market share consists of a previously announced zero percent revenue sharing structure until 2023, as well as the new pitch to get more outside merchants to offer Facebook Pay as an option at checkout.

“Starting this August, businesses in the U.S. who use participating platforms will have the ability to enable Facebook Pay as a payment option directly on their websites, giving their customers the ability to speed through checkout without having to re-enter their payment information,” the company said, noting its intentions to expand the service to more platforms and payment service providers over time.

Last month, Zuckerberg hinted at his intentions to grow Facebook Pay via a post that teased an upcoming revenue share agreement that would be “less than the 30 percent that Apple and others take.”

The discounted payment platform was also touted as a way to “help more creators make a living on our platforms” by keeping paid online events, fan subscriptions, badges and upcoming independent news products free for creators until 2023.

While Facebook Pay is still only used by a small fraction of the consumers who currently buy goods and services in-store and online with Apple Pay or Google Pay, the social media giant’s 2.8 billion monthly active users is a formidable base from which to grow its newest revenue stream.

For now, Facebook’s payment system upgrades are focusing on providing a fast and secure checkout experience that is appealing to both consumers and vendors.

“Facebook Pay is designed to help businesses drive conversions higher by giving customers a low-friction and mobile-friendly way to pay online,” the company statement said, noting that payment details would be encrypted and securely stored, and there would no longer be a need for businesses to manage customers’ card or bank account numbers.