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Facebook is testing social commerce payments in Southeast Asia

Facebook is expanding its focus on payments with a new trial in Southeast Asia that allows users to pay for products listed on Facebook Pages with just a few clicks.

The social network is running a trial in Thailand which allows users to make a payment to a Page owner without leaving the social network. Qwik, a product powered by Southeast Asia-based fintech company 2C2P, which raised a $7 million Series C last year, allows users to make payment via a credit card, debit card or bank transfer online, according to numerous sources with knowledge of the trial.

Facebook and 2C2P both declined to comment.

The test might sound a little bizarre to anyone in the West, where the dominance of Facebook is under question thanks to the emergence of companies like Snapchat, but in Asia — China aside — the social network is an internet staple for most people. Indeed, Asia Pacific is its largest region with 566 million monthly users, according to Facebook’s latest data.

That social dominance in Asia also extends to commerce, with many small and independent retailers using Facebook Pages to build and engage their audience and, of course, sell products. It’s difficult to track transactions on social, but Page365, a Bangkok-based startup that helps small retailers sell products via social media, previously estimated the industry to be worth over $500 million per year in Thailand alone.

(Source: Techcrunch )