On Monday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Facebook (FB) has asked several major banks to provide information like account balances and credit card activity. According to the report, Facebook asked firms like JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Wells Fargo (CBEAX), Citigroup (C) and U.S. Bancorp (USB) to discuss possible offerings it could provide for users on its Messenger chat platform.
Facebook declined to comment on whether it has been in talks with those companies but clarified it does work with banks to offer various services on Messenger.
"A recent Wall Street Journal story implies incorrectly that we are actively asking financial services companies for financial transaction data -- this is not true," a Facebook spokesperson told CNNMoney. "Like many online companies with commerce businesses, we partner with banks and credit card companies to offer services like customer chat or account management."
For example, Facebook users can link their PayPal (PYPL) account to Facebook Messenger and track their account balances, receipts and shipping updates. American Express (AXP) customers can use Messenger to track purchases. Facebook said none of this financial data is shared with advertisers.
"The idea is that messaging with a bank can be better than waiting on hold over the phone -- and it's completely opt-in," the Facebook spokesperson added.
A spokeswoman for Citigroup said the company recognizes its customers are increasingly spending more time on social media and it wants to be where consumers are. However, she noted some privacy concerns.
https://money.cnn.com/2018/08/06/technology/facebook-banks-data/index.html
