Facebook files patent application for payment services via messages

The move comes at a time when the government is pushing digital payment modes

In what could be a step towards offering its digital payment services in the country, online social networking giant Facebook Inc has filed a patent application with the Indian Patent Office for its invention on sending and receiving payments using a message system. Facebook offers payment services through its online chat application Messenger in some countries, and also owns another major online chat app, WhatsApp which has millions of users in India.

The company has claimed that the invention relates to systems methods and devices that provide a transactional payment system, which allows users to send and receive electronic payments