It looks like Facebook is definitely looking to convert the Messenger application into a platform, with possible new features including retail in-store payments. The company had first revealed this vision in March 2015 during the company’s F8 developer’s conference. Other parts of this plan included third-party app integration, sending money to friends, and the ability to place orders with online businesses inside Messenger.
There is no official announcement for any such feature as of now. The Information, via the Next Web, had snooped around the code for the application and had found out hints that indicated the addition of the ability to pay for goods at the cash register, among other things, though it’s not yet clear how the new in-store payments service would work.
Why does this make a difference? Facebook is one of the few major technology companies that hasn’t jumped into the payments game in a big way, but it’s not in any ways new to working with retailers. In 2010, the company began experimenting with coupon offers from major retailers in the Facebook mobile app as part of the Facebook Deals program.
However, it looks the company is not looking to stop just at the payments, the once rumored feature is also supposedly going to be there as Facebook is looking to make the Messenger into a special platform that has a unique set of features and an exclusive user base. In June 2015, Facebook had dropped the requirement to have a Facebook account to use the service.
Other than the payment feature, The Information also found references to a feature called “secret conversations.”. However, at the moment, there is no clarity as to what this feature actually mean; will the Facebook users get the option to encrypt their messages, or will this feature bring about the archiving feature which is similar to what we see in WhatsApp? Only time will tell.
