Facebook cashes in
Social networking site, Facebook, now hosts a payment service that allows users to transfer cash to each other.
Members can now use the Moneybookers application, which allows them to make donations to charity and make payments within the network.
Mat Ott, managing director, stressed how important it was that users’ data was secure.
"The benefit of Moneybookers is that once you’ve created a virtual account, you can rapidly and secure send and receive money without having to give out personal information to anyone else," he said.
The firm has more than 4.6 million customers - its Facebook fees start at only one per cent and rise to a maximum of 40 pence.
It noted internet sites are now seeing more micropayments, with users increasingly paying small amounts to consume items of digital content, such as music or avatars.
Discussing the application on the centrenetworks blog, Allen Stern said: "I prefer the security of logging directly into Moneybookers or PayPal when I send and/or receive money. Not sure I will feel comfortable completing the transaction inside the Facebook framework."
