FACE ‘BANK’ BOOK
Zuckerberg wants to access your cash records
Mark Zuckerberg wants to know how much is in your bank account.
The tech mogul’s Facebook has been quietly lobbying some of the biggest US banks to sign partnerships that would have the financial institutions share customer data — including account balances and recent purchases.
The request, which has also been made by other tech giants, is part of a larger race to keep users on their platform.
For Zuckerberg, it is an attempt to have users increase the time they spend on Facebook Messenger.
The social media giant, as well as Amazon and Google, approached JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and others in recent months, according to a report.
Facebook is looking to take financial services from the ATM to its own apps — and make more money in the process, according to people familiar with the talks.
“It’s important to get more entrenched into daily lives of consumers,” Daniel Ives, chief strategy officer at GBH Research, told The Post. “Ultimately, it’s about them tapping into the massive amount of users on their platforms,” he added.
The news about the potential partnerships, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, comes as Facebook’s growth has stagnated.
Also, Facebook, more than any other tech company, has struggled this year with concerns about data privacy after revelations that the data firm Cambridge Analytica had sucked up data from users who hadn’t explicitly given permission to aid Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign.
In April, CEO Zuckerberg was hauled in front of Congress, where he apologized.
The banks, perhaps sensing some data privacy issues, didn’t exactly jump at Face- book’ s offer. Most are in a wait-and-see mode, sources said — while one, Bank of America, said it wasn’t interested, one source said.
Last month, Facebook warned analysts that active users could decline for the foreseeable future — which sent the stock tanking 20 percent in one day. The news of potential bank tie-ups sent Facebook shares up 4.5 percent, to $185.69.
Large banks are already performing some customer service through social media, answering questions or fixing problem that are reported by customers.
What Facebook pitched, however, would go further than what they already offer, sources said.
Facebook proposed that bank customers would be able to check their balances through Facebook Messenger, its chat app, sources said.
The potential service would have been something that users would opt into, the people said. Amazon has pitched a similar service for its Alexa home voice assistant, one source said.
Facebook denied it is “actively asking financial services companies for financial transaction data,” or that the information would have been used for advertising, spokeswoman Jennifer Hakes said in a statement.
“Like many online companies with commerce businesses, we partner with banks and credit card companies to offer services like customer chat or account management,” she added.
Reps for Amazon, Google, and the banks declined to comment.