Snapchat probably had such high hopes for their Snapcash product launched four years ago, especially as they were already planning an expansion towards becoming an e-commerce platform among other things. But apparently it did not turn out the way they wanted it too as it became a way for adult performers to cash in on getting people to pay for private content through the app. So now it looks like they’re giving up on it and their partnership with Square. No word yet if they’ll be developing a similar product on their own.
The first indication that Snapcash will soon disappear is that there is a deprecation message in the Android app that says “Snapcash will no longer be available after %s[date]”. A spokesperson later on confirmed with Tech Crunch that they are indeed discontinuing it by August 30, 2018. They will be notifying users before then through an in-app message and through their support site soon.
Snapcash was created to be able to give Snapchat users a way to split a bill with their friends or to connect payment methods to the app. This was important for the e-commerce push that they started four years ago. But pretty soon, adult entertainment got the upper hand and if you search on Twitter for Snapcash, you’ll see offers for erotic content and payment is transacted through the feature. They probably realized that it was more of a PR nightmare than an important utility, hence this latest development.
We’ll find out more about how current Snapcash users will be able to save their information or data and whether or not Snapchat is working on an alternative to support its commerce strategy.
VIA: Tech Crunch
