It has been reported that Facebook has also discussed partnerships with at least three London start-ups that offer international money transfer services through smartphones: TransferWise, Moni Technologies and Azimo, according to three people involved in the discussions.

It can be expected that if the service launched, Facebook will be able to tap into the vast international remittances market and leverage its sizeable customer base in developing countries.

However, it could also end up being seen as a direct competitor to the mobile networks own mobile money services, and Facebook has been heavily reliant on the mobile networks offering free access to the Facebook website to build its customer base.

Facebook, once a company struggling to do anything with mobile is fast becoming a mobile-first organisation that is barely investing in its desktop services.