Facebook has asked large US banks to share detailed financial data about their customers in an effort to deepen user engagement on its Messenger platform, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Facebook last week saw $120 billion wiped off its market value after reporting a tailing off in new users in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal. While the social media giant has been responding to user concerns with a series of pledges to improve privacy, it is also looking at ways to deepen its relationships with customers.
The Wall Street Journal says that JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, US Bank and Citigroup among others have been approached by Facebook to discuss potential offerings it could host on its messaging platform. Facebook is reportedly in the market for card transaction data and current account information. Features on offer to customers would include the ability to check their account balances and receive fraud alerts.
Banks are keen to use Big Tech messaging services as a means to communicate with customers - and indeed many already offer in-app integration with chatbots such as Messenger - but have baulked at building any closer relations with Facebook, states the report. At least one large US bank has walked away from talks in light of the ongoing investigations into Facebook's data sharing practices, says the WSJ.
A JPMorgan spokeswoman told the broadsheet that the bank isn’t “sharing our customers’ off-platform transaction data with these platforms, and have had to say no to some things as a result."