Facebook eyes payments market with new Swiss fintech
Facebook has set up a new fintech company in Switzerland with a focus on payments, blockchain and more, Jane Connolly writes.
Reuters reports that the social network – currently used by more than two billion people worldwide – registered Libra Networks in Geneva, with Facebook Global Holdings as stakeholder.
The register reportedly reveals that the company will provide financial and technology services and develop related hardware and software, focusing on “investing, payments, financing, identity management, analytics, big data, blockchain and other technologies”.
Facebook, which also owns WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram, has received attention over allegations of misuse of consumers’ personal data.
Earlier this month, a concerned US Senate wrote an open letter to Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg, following news that the business was developing a cryptocurrency-based payments system.
The letter stated that privacy experts had asked “whether any of the data collected by Facebook is being used for purposes that do or should subject Facebook to the Fair Credit Reporting Act”.
