TransferWise Launches International Money Transfers Via Facebook (reuters.com) 33
Money transfer company TransferWise has launched a new service that allows users to send money internationally through Facebook's Messenger, as competition in the digital payments landscape intensifies. From a report on Reuters: The London-based startup said on Tuesday that it had developed a Facebook Messenger "chatbot", or an automated program that can help users communicate with businesses and carry out tasks such as online purchases. TransferWise's chatbot enables customers to send money to friends and family to and from the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia and Europe from Facebook Messenger. It can also be used to set up exchange rate alerts. Facebook already allows its users to send money domestically in the United States via its Messenger app, but has not yet launched similar services internationally. TransferWise said its service will be the first to enable international money transfers entirely within Messenger.
Just use bitcoin (Score:1)
NT
Re: (Score:2)
You'd be crazy to use Bitcoin.
Use Dogecoin instead!
crazy (Score:1)
You must be crazy to use zuckerworld to transfer money. I don't know else would cause someone to do this.
'It's facebook, what could go wrong?'
ICE will love i (Score:4, Informative)
When the too-stupid-to-be-burger-flippers stop you in customs and demand your Facebook login they'll be drooling over this.
Re: (Score:2)
And why would they? Are you somehow implying that banking information isn't shared with the US government already?
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When the too-stupid-to-be-burger-flippers stop you in customs and demand your Facebook login they'll be drooling over this.
I get your point.
But you also haven't used any of these transfer services.
By and large they are pretty good but transfers take days to complete, partially as a security measure (and partially because it takes time for the money to clear). If I were to transfer money from UK account to a UK account it would still take a day to process (in the UK, I can transfer from account to account in a matter of seconds using Faster Payments). You have to transfer the money from your bank and specifiy the bank your
Hi buddy I'm jail over seas and I need you to (Score:2)
Hi buddy I'm jail over seas and I need you to Facebook the guard some cash as a bribe so I can get out.
Realistic scam (Score:2)
Sadly, it's exactly the kind of real-world bribery nightmare that your company had endured that brings credibility to the various "I'm jail over seas and I need your help" scams/identity theft that often flourish on the social media.
Re: (Score:2)
I think that's what we'll start seeing on posts.
You can tag a post and then put on a simple "Pay me now" button so people can read your plea for money and simply get it by clicking a link.
It's one of those things you really wonder why it hasn't happened before. It's one of those its so obvious now it's done things.
Soon you'll have dozens of posts in your news feed "My car broke down and it'll cost $2000 to
Re: (Score:3)
There's already a common scam where someone scrapes a Facebook profile, sets up an apparent duplicate, and starts adding all their friends. Inevitably people respond to the friend requests (they forget that they're friends, or assume that the person had to create a new account for some reason, or whatever), and then the scammer starts up with the money requests.
Th
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As long as there are follow-up plugins that allow me to send them a bag of dicks [bagofdicks.com] as well, I'm good with it.
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I was just thinking that we needed yet another way to move money across the Internet. Thank god that Facebook is here to help!
administrative excercise (Score:3)
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but....but....it's CUTTING EDGE technology! The ability to use a computer to pay for something?! Welcome to the FUTURE!
Launches or Launders? (Score:2)
What could possibly go wrong? (Score:2)
1) Hack TransferWise chatbot.
2) Redirect funds.
3) PROFIT!
Scammer's rejoicing around the world (Score:3)
When you thought it couldn't get any worse than Western Union...
Re: (Score:2)
At least with WU you don't need an account with them to send or receive money...
This is totally a play to get people who don't already have a FB account to be forced into getting one for the convenience.
At some point, I wouldn't be surprised if FB becomes the new Amazon....
I'm conflicted (Score:2)
On the one hand, 'Facebook' - enough said. On the other hand, competition is good, and we need more of it in the digital payments business. Besides, I'd love to see PayPal taken down a notch or fifty - maybe then they'd at least have to act as if they weren't utterly evil, in order to stay viable.
TransferWise is not the first (Score:2)
The largest bank in Canada, RBC, implemented this a few years ago.
As far as I know, Facebook is just used as a message platform to inform the users of the transfer, so this is not really a big deal.
However, that being stated, most social platforms have better authentication solutions than most banks in the world, which makes me trust some sites more than my own bank.
Re: TransferWise is not the first (Score:2)
If I'm not mistaken, those are just Interac eTransfers.
Every Financial Institution in Canada supports them. Some charge a small fee ($1-$2) to send them. Some allow you to send them free. Some give you a certain number of them for free per month. But it's always free to receive.
The difference with this TransferWise thing, is that it works internationally, which you can not do with Interac eTransfers, and that's kinda cool. It certainly looks easier than Paypal, but I havent looked much further than the Tran
Nigerian Princes (Score:2)