Instagram Launches Payment System Without A Peep

Social media companies hardly do anything without ceremony, especially if they want the world to know about what that thing is. Instagram is usually no exception, however, the image-sharing platform recently launched a payment system without even saying a word. It was left up to users and publications to actually figure out that the option now exists.

The silence behind the launch of the new system is baffling, in that it actually holds the potential to rock the e-commerce industry, TechCrunch reports. It involves allowing users to register their debit or credit cards using their profiles so that if they want to buy something, they wouldn’t need to leave Instagram to do it.

It’s not exactly a new kind of technology, but with the social media platform being as big as it is and with the might of Facebook behind it, Instagram could be a major player in online shopping. The network is already highly influential in marketing, with accounts of both private individuals and companies promoting products via photos and videos.

When asked about the system, it seems that it’s only available with limited partners, right now. It would also appear that the only options for online payment that users can take advantage of, at the moment, include those for restaurant or salon bookings.

Instagram actually announced something along the lines of a more business-centric lineup of services back in March of 2017, The Verge reports, and this new system seems to be a part of that. With the platform having major influencers peddling different products and services of their own, it only makes sense for the company to go this route.

More to the point, more third-party sellers could start taking advantage of the system, which could then have a snowball effect on the number of people that will be signing up for an account of their own. As potential for changing the game goes, this is one of the bigger ones in the online shopping market right now.