Facebook has announced that their Facebook Credits system will be offered globally in July, expanding their virtual currency into 13 countries throughout Latin America and Asia.
Facebook Credits are used to purchase in-game and in-app add-ons and for other purchasing purposes on the social network. The system, launched in 2010 in the United States has grown so large that customers at some major chains can actually buy Facebook credits at the cash register.
Facebook like Apple and their iTunes product takes 30 percent of revenues from each Facebook credit sale, while developers retain the remaining 70% of revenue.
The move to expand Facebook Credits is important for Facebook as they have announced a July 1 deadline in which all Facebook developers much change their own payment options over to the Facebook Credits platform.
According to AllThingsD:
To add these final countries, Facebook has partnered with Live Gamer, a New York-based company that powers microtransactions in 23 countries around the world. Facebook has similar deals with companies, such as PlaySpan, which was recently acquired by Visa. Here’s a full list of all the payment providers Facebook works with around the globe.
Moving quickly to find partnerships in countries where billing can be tricky is an important aspect of Facebook’s strategy, in a company blog post Facebook developers said:
“Through these improvements, we’re now able to support developers in virtually all countries.”
Countries expected to be affected as part of the deal by the end of July includes: Japan, Korea, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Mexico.
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