Facebook launched its mobile payment feature, Autofill, Monday.
The name itself suggests the functionality of the recently added feature that tends to make online transactions on mobiles much easier and quicker. There is a catch to the offer, the Autofill option can only be accessed by a limited number of Facebook users and has a few selective retailers on its store for now.
The social networking giant has plans to include the Autofill option for all the Facebook users over time with its increasing popularity. Facebook had also tested the beta version for Autofill on a couple of retailer JackThreads users before the feature was rolled out globally.
In simple words, Autofill is an option that does away with the laborious job of typing the credit/debit card credentials every time while shopping online. With Autofill, the users have to save the card details once and will just have to key in the Facebook login id and password for further transactions. The user will automatically be directed to the confirmation page to approve the payment before the transaction gets completed.
"We are working on a mobile payments test called Autofill with Facebook that gives people the option to use their payment information already stored on Facebook to populate the payment form when they make a purchase in a mobile app," said a Facebook spokesperson to CNET. "The app then processes and completes the payment."
The way Autofill works:
If a user has bought a Facebook Gift, Credits or in-game purchase and stored the billing info with the social network then Facebook will have those details recorded in its backend system. On further transactions, after the items are selected to be purchased, the user can look up for the message "Check out faster with Facebook" on the top right hand side of the page and select the "Autofill your info" option from the drop down box to fill the card details and proceed with the purchase, explains TechCrunch.
The user will be asked for his/her Facebook id and password and will be directed to the mobile app that has been designed to Autofill the form in order to execute the transaction. Further, the user has to key in the shipping address and press OK. Facebook will automatically pass on the card details to the retailer and the user will be directed to the final approval section where the user needs to confirm the payment for the last time and the transaction is completed.
Tie ups with Autofill :
At present Autofill is only offered on two retail iOS apps, JackThreads and Mosaic. Facebook is reportedly in talks with other popular e-commerce partners like Pay Pal and Stripe to boost its traffic with the inclusion of more retailers for Autofill.
