Facebook plans to extend credits to mobile devices

MOBILE DEVICES will get access to Facebook's virtual currency system under plans revealed by the social notworking website's head of international business development.

Free with its users' data, Facebook blogged about the use of its virtual currency for game developers on Monday, and today we learn that gamers' could make purchases with Facebook cash on their mobile devices in future.

Speaking at the Mobile Games Forum event in London Facebook's head of international business development, Christian Hernandez said, "We will roll [the credit system] out worldwide and then look at multiple platforms."

As if Facebook hadn't had enough headaches already with security and privacy, having something as sensitive as credit, purchased with real money, available on mobile devices would seem to be a rather ambitious step.

And these developments come just days after the social notworking website had to make an embarrassing U-turn, reversing a seemingly hasty decision to allow developers to gain access to Facebook users' home addresses and telephone numbers.

However this mobile credit initiative might help to explain Facebook's announcement that it is intending to roll out HTTPS for secure access across its website in the months to come.

Clearly the social notworking company sees huge revenue potential in people buying games on its website through desktop, laptop and mobile devices. As Deborah Liu, Facebook platform marketing manager, wrote in that Monday developers blog entry, "all developers keep 70 per cent of the revenue from virtual goods transactions using Facebook Credits".

Therefore Facebook's 30 per cent cut on every transaction would seem to be reward enough, but it can't compare to the marketing data Zuckerberg will get when his firm is able to see first hand the buying habits of its users. µ