• Agence France Presse, Thursday, July 8, 2010 1:23 PM

Facebook has tapped Malaysia-based payment service provider MOL to provide online gamers with virtual currency and other services through retail shops across Asia. Per the deal, customers can now buy Facebook Credits, a virtual currency used to buy gifts and virtual goods in many games and applications on Facebook. "Many Facebook users prefer to buy physical cards that they can then use online as credit, and MOL's 500,000 outlets at 7-Eleven stores and cybercafes across the Asia-Pacific region will sell these cards," reports Agence France Presse.

Facebook hopes the deal will further encourage developers and website owners to provide content for the site, according to Vaughan Smith, Facebook's business and corporate development director. "We want to make it very easy for people to make lots of money building on top of Facebook," he told reporters on Thursday. "What we want to do is create a virtual currency which makes it very simple and straightforward for our users to buy services when they are using games and services on Facebook." With the help of MOL, the top social net also plans to launch a Facebook Gift Card in Malaysia and Singapore on a trial basis before a global rollout.

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