Update (Sept 29, 7:00 pm ET): The rebrand from Facebook Pay to Meta Pay is rolling out globally.
What you need to know
- Meta has announced the rebranding of Facebook Pay into Meta Pay.
- The renamed digital payments solution adds no new major changes in terms of functionality.
- The rebranding will initially roll out in the United States and will then launch globally in the future.
Meta is unsurprisingly renaming Facebook Pay to, well, Meta Pay. The decision is part of an effort to bring the company's payment solution closer to its rebranding, but it's obviously a baby step toward creating a digital wallet for the metaverse.
In a Facebook post, Mark Zuckerberg has detailed Meta's plan to create a digital wallet that allows users to manage their identities, digital items, and payment methods in the metaverse.
"In the future there will be all sorts of digital items you might want to create or buy -- digital clothing, art, videos, music, experiences, virtual events, and more," Zuckerberg wrote. "Proof of ownership will be important, especially if you want to take some of these items with you across different services."
Zuckerberg admitted that his vision for a metaverse wallet is a long time in the future, but Meta Pay will most certainly play an important part in that goal. In the long haul, the social networking giant aims to make Meta Pay your de-facto digital wallet for all digital items you purchase in the metaverse.
"Ideally, you should be able to sign into any metaverse experience and everything you've bought should be right there," he added. Zuckerberg maintains that "this kind of interoperability will deliver much better experiences for people and larger opportunities for creators."
This has fueled speculation that Meta will introduce non-fungible tokens (NFTs). While Zuckerberg didn't mention crypto wallet in his post, the company has been experimenting with making NFTs and digital collectibles available to creators.
Android Central has reached out to Meta for clarification on this speculation, and will update this post once we hear back.
Currently, the rebranded payment solution is the same digital service that you can use to send and request money on Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp, according to Meta. It's only getting a Meta rebrand, which will start in the United States and spread globally over time.
Meta has been gradually renaming its services to match the new branding that came to being last October. Oculus Quest was renamed Meta Quest in April, and Facebook Portal was renamed Meta Portal.
Update
Meta continues its branding shift as it transitions its payment system from the old Facebook Pay name. The company started rebranding the product to "Meta Pay" in the U.S. in June and announced this week that the new name is rolling out globally in nearly 200 countries.
The company maintains that the change is in name only and that users should expect the same features they're used to.
