INGENIEUR
Twitter ( Tweet Purchase and iPayYou ) Tweet Purchase by Twitter enables business organisations to promote and trade their products and / or services immediately from their tweets . The service is further augmented by integrated matching platform features – when a seller tweets the services and products being offered , the underlying algorithm of the matching platform feeds the tweets to the inferred possible buyers . If there is a match , the buyers can directly hit the ‘ buy ’ button to purchase the tweeted products and / or services . iPayYou , also known as Pay by Twitter , enables transacting bitcoins . The recipients of any Bitcoin transactions via iPayYou , are notified through tweets which contain customised links to the iPayYou website , for the particular transactions . Similar to Venmo , pre-registration is not required to receive Bitcoins by iPayYou , but registration is required before the transferred fund can be used .
WeChat Pay WeChat Pay is an integrated service of WeChat by Tencent which is one of the popular multipurpose social media apps in China and the surrounding region including Malaysia . WeChat pay provides a rich combination of different mobile payment protocols such as QR Code , NFC , etc . Apart from paying for goods and services , P2P fund transfer via WeChat Pay is very popular amongst the users . WeChat Pay HK is the localised version , especially designed for the residents of HK .
Facebook Messenger In fact , social media payment platform using Facebook Messenger was introduced long before Facebook declared the development of its own cryptocurrency Libra . Along with their plastic cards , users can also associate their PayPal accounts , to transfer funds to other peer Facebook Messenger users . However , at this moment the service is limited to only a handful of countries such as the US ( in US Dollars ), United Kingdom ( in Pound Sterling ) and France ( in Euro ). Facebook
Messenger enables splitting any group payment amongst the participants , such as having a group meal with the friends . Personalised payment requests can also be sent out to the users who owe ( or expect to transfer ) money .
In 2019 , Facebook disclosed their roadmap for implementing Libra as a blockchain based cryptocurrency . Libra will be governed by the independent Libra Association . It will utilise the Byzantine Fault Tolerant Consensus mechanism . Unlike other cryptocurrencies , to provide Libra with intrinsic value , it will be backed by reserved assets – analogous fiat currencies . Calibra will be Facebook ’ s native digital wallet for Libra 4 .
Apple Pay Apple Pay 5 developed by Apple is becoming increasingly popular in Europe , the Middle East , US , and some parts of Asia . Apple Pay is currently limited to Apple devices . The major difference between Apple Pay and its counterparts is that Apple Pay enables users to withdraw funds directly from a bank ’ s ATM machine with an NFC device .
REGULATORY CHALLENGES
While the social media payment platforms , along with mobile payments systems , are becoming tremendously popular and have already changed the way we pay or transfer funds , they are criticised for being an easy route for money laundering . Due to several limitations , such payment platforms cannot be regulated and monitored by regulatory bodies or other relevant Government agents , in the same way as for traditional banks . Lack of appropriate laws and regulations in many countries is also another concern . Therefore , to ensure that these payment platforms remain safe for the users , the privacy , security , regulatory as well as legal and ethical issues should be carefully addressed and continuously monitored by the relevant bodies 6 .
Payment Card Security Measures , 10 DePaul Bus . & Comm . L . J . 213 ( 2012 ).
30 VOL 89 JANUARY-MARCH 2022