A new app has been launched which allows you to make small payments to your Facebook friends.
The Buxter app currently allows transfers in dollars and Euros, but is due to be opened up to Pounds Sterling within the next month.
Buxter is ClickandBuy’s Facebook application. With Buxter Facebook users can easily transfer money to each other, as well as purchase items in Facebook apps quickly and conveniently.
ClickandBuy has been described as a “European Paypal“, and boasts more than 13 million accounts worldwide, but it certainly hasn’t managed to get much recognition in the UK, which could mean take-up will be slow.
The idea is that it could be used to share expenses between friends, give birthday gifts or donate to a common cause, such as a charity, with the maximum amount currently set at 50 Euros, about £45.
Whilst transfers between Buxter accounts are free, Buxter makes their money from charging a fee to transfer the money back to a bank account. It’s not particularly cheap, taking 1.9% (minimum 2 EUROs), but with little or no competition, it can afford to set its prices high to begin with. I’d expect to see eBay/PayPal to get in on the act in the near future, with Facebook themselves also likely to want a piece of the action eventually.
Where the idea gets really interesting is that Buxter also has an “API” which will allow other Facebook apps that accept payments using a users Buxter account, which opens up some interesting possibilities for app developers.