Will every bank & lender soon just serve customers inside Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp?

Julian Hebron
·2 min read
1
Most banks plan to engage, take loan apps, quote rates, collect docs on a fully-private Facebook - The Basis Point
Most banks plan to engage, take loan apps, quote rates, collect docs on a fully-private Facebook - The Basis Point

This post originally appeared on The Basis Point: Will every bank & lender soon just serve customers inside Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp?

This month, Facebook reiterated it’ll lean heavier into Messenger for businesses to communicate with consumers across Facebook, Intagram, and WhatsApp. Translation: Facebook wants all business to be conducted on Facebook platforms, and that includes banking.

If they get it right, this makes sense for consumers since most of us are already on these platforms daily — and if it’s truly secure, why not bank there instead of phone, email, branch?

This is a continuation of Facebook’s Privacy-Focused Vision Zuckerberg announced in March 2019. Back then, The Basis Point did some joint research with bank software provider Blend and Arizent (then called Source Media) on how much business credit unions would actually conduct with consumers within a newly-private Facebook.

These results show that traditional banks and lenders may be quite open to providing banking services — like taking loan applications, quoting rates, and collecting documentation — directly within fully-encrypted Facebook apps:

Most banks plan to engage, take loan apps, quote rates, collect docs on a fully-private Facebook - The Basis Point
Most banks plan to engage, take loan apps, quote rates, collect docs on a fully-private Facebook - The Basis Point

Given that Facebook is advancing on this vision in 2021, it’s time for banks to get serious about this again.

The Basis Point will certainly be dusting off discussions we’ve had about this with banks, lenders, and the fintechs that power them. If banks and lenders don’t embrace this, they’ll get left behind.

Here’s CNBC on Facebook’s latest moves on this front, and I’m also placing links below.

Facebook announced that all businesses will now have access to the application program interface, or API, for messaging on Instagram. This will make it easier for businesses to automate and manage direct message communication with users. For instance, businesses could create automatic responses or workflows for common consumer questions or requests such as “What’s your return policy?” or “Please track my order” before a chat with a live representative begins.

Already, these types of tools exist for businesses to message folks via WhatsApp or Messenger, but now, they will also be able to build similar messaging experiences on Instagram.

Please comment below or reach out directly to chat about this.

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Reference:

– Facebook announces new tools to make it easier for businesses and consumers to communicate

– Facebook’s Privacy-Focused Vision — Zuckerberg blog 3/2019

– Facebook product privacy chief Michel Protti with latest on FB’s privacy vision

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