Facebook has launched a new service which allows owners of Facebook pages to create events, market it and receive payments from their Facebook account. Pages belonging to businesses, schools and other institutions can set up and host the online events from the web app, android and iOS apps.
The money will be received into the Facebook Pay account of the event creator. Facebook requires that the amount paid by attendees into the FB Pay account reach a minimum of $100 before the page owner can withdraw the money.
The amount to be paid out is calculated at the end of the month and made available about 30 days later. According to the company, the payouts will be made available in the first week of the following month.
In countries where FB Pay is already supported, event creators can manage their fund from the Creator Studio by going to Monetization > Payout Settings. Facebook Pay is not yet available in Nigeria.
If the fund is not up to the minimum threshold of $100, the money will be carried over to the next month until it reaches or crosses the required amount.
Processing fee
Depending on whether you operate your FB page from an android or iOS platform, you will incur different charges. Android users will pay nothing for using FB Pages to create their events and for receiving money through FB Pay. This will continue for at least the next year.
For those who will be using the iOS version of Facebook to create their events, Apple will be charging its standard 30% for processing the payment made by each user that registers for an event.
What does this mean?
It means that android users will get 100% of the amount that registrants pay for an event while iOS users will get 70% because Apple will remove 30% for processing the payment.
Facebook says it is not collecting any processing fee as its way of helping businesses regain their composure in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. IOS users would not have had to pay the 30% if Apple had consented to any of Facebook’s request, according to Facebook.
The social media giant had requested that Apple reduced its 30% processing fee or allow FB Pay to be used for the payment processing. This would have either reduced the charge or removed it completely.
We asked Apple to reduce its 30% App Store tax or allow us to offer Facebook Pay so we could absorb all costs for businesses struggling during COVID-19. Unfortunately, they dismissed both our requests and SMBs will only be paid 70% of their hard-earned revenue.
Facebook
Apple recently entered a legal battle with Epic Games over its refusal to allow third-party apps to process payments in iOS apps. Its refusal to allow other software companies to distribute apps as the App store does, as well as process payments in their own apps like Google does with the Android software, has made it the object of antitrust suits that seek to establish its monopoly.
The outcome of the Epic Games suit against Apple could result in it and other companies like Facebook being able to process their own payments for iOS apps.
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