• VentureBeat, Tuesday, May 12, 2009 12 PM

VentureBeat sources say that Facebook will start testing a payments system with developers in the next several weeks. One of the sources, who is close to Facebook, confirmed the timeline for the test, saying that it will be a "small, alpha test", the details of which are still being worked out.

"It could end up being pretty big," says VB writer Eric Eldon, as "Facebook could potentially offer a universal currency for Facebook applications, as well as other sites on the Web that use Facebook data, making a single trusted payment method that users and developers would feel comfortable using for anything from virtual goods purchases to actual products." Think PayPal for Facebook apps, and you're on the right track. Naturally, Facebook would take a cut of every transaction.

This could benefit developers, as Facebook users would only have to enter payment information a single time (when they give it to Facebook), making a purchase a matter of just a single click (like how buying a song on iTunes works, for example). Facebook, in turn, could take a cut of every transaction. Last week, Eldon estimated that developers on the Facebook platform have grossed up to $500 million in revenue, mostly from virtual goods built into a wide range of games like Texas Hold 'Em and Mafia Wars. Facebook is currently on track to make about as much from the sale of advertising this year -- a payments system would open up a whole new revenue source for the social networking giant.

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