Facebook is preparing to test a system that will allow users to make in-app purchases using their Facebook login details, according to AllThingsD.
Set for trial within weeks, the system means that once shoppers have given Facebook their credit card details they can make purchases on partner e-commerce mobile apps without needing to enter their billing details.
The move - confirmed by Facebook to AllThingsD - pits Mark Zuckerberg's social networking giant directly against PayPal and a host of smaller outfits seeking to cash in on the mobile commerce gold rush.
Facebook has long sought to muscle in on payments to compliment ads, its main source of revenue, but results have been mixed with revenues bumping along at around $250 million a quarter.
Last year the firm abandoned its Credits virtual currency platform after it slowed uptake of gaming applications. Since then the focus has been on 'gifts', centred on a reusable card that people can buy on the social network and send to friends for use at specific retailers and restaurants.