Facebook announced its idea of adding a payment feature to its Messenger appl a few days ago. Following the news of the new payment feature, analysts from various research houses are optimistic about Facebook’s growth.
Analysts optimistic on Facebook
The new feature allowing monetary transactions could eventually be unified with WhatsApp, which Facebook acquired last year for $22 billion, according to analysts. This proposed service could be an effort to increase revenues from the app, which the company has been looking to do for a while now.
Doug Anmuth, a JPMorgan analyst, restated that Facebook remains one of his top picks for the year. Moreover, he asserted that though the company is gradually coming up with options to monetize its businesses, its apps such as Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp are still strong sources of revenue.
Likewise, Anthony DiClemente of Nomura reiterated his Buy rating on Facebook with a price target of $96. The analyst cited rising growth potential of the company’s video advertisements for his bullish opinion about the stock. Anthony hopes Facebook’s video ads will contribute $3.7 billion to the social network’s advertisement revenue in 2017 and sees a growth of 11% in the company’s revenues in the next two years.
Facebook addresses security concerns
The payment feature will enable users to upload a Visa or MasterCard debit card to the messenger app, through which they can send or receive money from their friends without paying any additional charges. Also users will be able to carry out the transaction using any Apple or Android device and desktop PCs.
Reflecting on the security concerns of the feature, the social media giant stated that it uses layers of software and hardware protection to achieve the highest industry standards. Moreover, the payment systems are kept in a secure environment away from the other Facebook components and are constantly controlled and monitored. Further, Facebook has employed an anti-fraud specialist team to look after any suspicious purchase in order to keep users’ accounts secured.
PayPal’s Venmo, an app that allows users to send and receive money for free using mobile devices, poses major competition to Facebook. In addition, Apple and Google have also expanded in this segment with Apple Pay and Google Wallet, respectively.
