It seemed like just yesterday, or seven months ago, that the (arguably) one that started them all, Friendster, was up on the ‘for sale’ block. After the transaction went through, South East Asian firm MOL Global walked away with the owners’ title. Not only did they acquire a 115 million user base, but perhaps more importantly, they also walked away with some rather valuable U.S. Patents, including the “compatibility scoring of users in a social network,” “how people are connected on a social network,” “the process of friends encouraging each other to upload content,” and “ways for users to manage social network relationships.”
In addition to these patents and owning Friendster, MOL is also a payment provider working close to home in South East Asia. The firm received a major shot in the arm yesterday when it was announced that they’d struck a deal with Facebook to aims to make it significantly easier for millions of users across Asia to purchase virtual goods in online games and applications on Facebook.
The deal looks like so: MOL Access Portal, a wholly owned subsidiary of MOL Global will act as payment provider for Facebook credits. This in turn will allow users to buy Facebook Credits using MOLPoints (the company’s proprietary form of currency). Spread across Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, The Philippines, Thailand, India, Australia, and New Zealand, MOL has some 500,000 outlets that will make MOLPoints available to interested consumers. Additionally, outlets including 7-Eleven stores and cybercafés will have a stock of Facebook Credits available for purchase. Malaysia and Singapore will see co-branded MOL and Facebook gift cards. The project is aimed at targeting a market where it’s more common to make virtual goods and services purchases with pre-paid cards, rather than credit cards.
“Working with MOL means we can offer the benefits of Facebook Credits to millions of people in Asia using a payment system that is already widely used and trusted,” said Vaughan Smith, director of business and corporate development at Facebook. “We’re investing in the long-term future of Facebook Credits and we view this agreement as a major opportunity to broaden the availability of a simple, unified currency that can be used in games and applications across Facebook.”
Currently, Facebook has over 150 applications, many from leading developers, that each requires individual payment details for each game’s purchase. Facebook Credits seek to unify this customer experience, providing a virtual wallet of currency that is universally accepted across the entire platform.
As we’ve already come to know, Asia is the home and birthplace of the microtransaction. If Facebook is planting a big flag in that market, how long will it be before we see universal, global adoption? I predict this coming holiday season might see another geographic rollout, and by this time next year, Facebook credits will be THE standard on the platform.
Tags: Facebook, friendster, MOL
