Facebook Asks Banks for Financial Data, But Small Business Experts Are Concerned

Facebook wants some U.S. banks to hand over customer financial information. They’ve asked big banks to supply balances from checking accounts and credit card transaction details when they join Messenger. On the surface, supplying this information would allow banks to offer customer service through the platform, but the push comes at a time when Facebook is struggling with concerns over how they handle user data. Small Business Trends contacted Dan Goldstein, president and owner of Page 1 Solutions to find out what small businesses need to know about the Facebook partnership with big banks. “By requesting access to private financial records of bank customers so soon after the Cambridge Analytica PR debacle, Facebook demonstrates that it is tone deaf to consumer concerns about the sharing of their private data,” he says. “Even if there were no risks that the data might be disclosed or hacked (which is far from certain), it is clear that Facebook has not recognized the seriousness of this issue.”