Facebook asks U.S. banks for financial info to boost user engagement: WSJ

(Reuters) - Facebook Inc (FB.O) has asked large U.S. banks to share detailed financial information about their customers, as part of an effort to offer new services to users, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.

FILE PHOTO: A woman looks at the Facebook logo on an iPad in this photo illustration taken June 3, 2018. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau/File Photo

The financial information asked from the banks include card transactions and checking account balances, according to the report. (on.wsj.com/2Kvw61Y)

Facebook, which is trying to deepen user engagement, has asked JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N), Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N), Citigroup Inc (C.N) and U.S. Bancorp (USB.N) to discuss potential offerings it could host for bank customers on Facebook Messenger, the newspaper reported.

The social media company said it wouldn’t use the bank data for ad-targeting purposes or share it with third parties, the WSJ said.

Reporting by Nikhil Subba in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta

(Original source)