Facebook is taking its recently launched Messenger chatbot platform to the next level, letting bots accept payments without having to send users to external sites.
Since the Messenger platform's launch just six months ago, developers and businesses - many of them in financial services - have built over 30,000 bots for it.
Now the platform's first update sees businesses able to sell products and services directly to customers within Messenger. Users will be able to checkout with a few clicks without ever having to leave the app.
Speaking at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference, Facebook Messenger boss David Marcus said that the firm is working with Stripe, PayPal, Braintree, Visa, MasterCard and American Express to make payments work with the new service.
Interested US firms are being invited to apply for a closed beta ahead of a wider rollout.
One of the first out of the blocks is blockchain payments firm Circle, which is to use the popular messaging app to allow users to users to send payments in dollars, euro, pound sterling and bitcoin.