Facebook has launched a new payments unit run by its cryptocurrency head David Marcus.

Facebook Financial will run all the social media company's payments projects, including the roll-out of Facebook Pay across its various apps in the coming months.

Former PayPal executive Stephanie Kasriel has been brought in to serve as vice president under Marcus, who will continue running re-branded digital wallet service Novi and oversee WhatsApp’s payments moves in India and Brazil.

“It felt like it was the right thing to do to rationalise the strategy at a company level around all things payments,” Marcus stated.

Facebook's long-planned moves into payments have taken time to get off the ground, with its Libra cryptocurrency project met with widespread backlash from regulators, as well as losing several initial collaborators.

Meanwhile, in June WhatsApp Pay was suspended by the Brazilian central bank soon after launching in the country.

Facebook Pay launched in a limited capacity back in November 2019, available to US users on Messenger.

Share Story: