Will Apple ban Facebook after the introduction of this new strategy?
Facebook has found a way to get round Apple’s 30% tax on in-app transactions. Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook parent company Meta, shared a post saying that creators will soon get a chance to share custom web links leading fans to pay for subscriptions using Facebook’s native payments system. If a fan signs up through this link rather than Apple’s in-app subscription, a creator will get all of the money minus taxes. Facebook subscription service is now available in 27 countries for creators who meet certain eligibility requirements.
It appears that Facebook chose to operate within a gray zone under Apple’s rules but a spokesperson states the social network thinks this approach does not violate Apple rules. Currently, the App Store does not let iOS apps offer alternative payment options for purchasing digital goods, but in this case, creators (not Facebook) will be using outside links to pay for a subscription on the web so the whole thing might work.
"As we build for the metaverse, we’re focused on unlocking opportunities for creators to make money from their work," Zuckerberg wrote on Facebook. "The 30 percent fees that Apple takes on transactions make it harder to do that, so we’re updating our Subscriptions product so now creators can earn more."
Facebook won't get a cut of subscription transactions until at least 2023, plus the company will start paying creators a bonus of between $5 and $20 for every new subscriber they add – doesn't matter if creators get subsribers through the custom web link or through Apple and Google’s systems.
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