Facebook Ups Ante on Fan Subscriptions; Clubhouse’s Global Expansion

Social media creators have emerged as key players in the tussle between Apple and Facebook over in-app payments. The latest: Facebook is circumventing Apple’s 30% fee on in-app purchases by offering creators a personalized subscription link. 

Now creators can direct fans to a website to purchase a subscription to their content using Facebook Pay, the payment service it launched in 2019. If creators go that route, they keep 100% of the money they earn, except taxes, rather than forking over extra money to mobile app stores. 

This loophole is possible thanks to relaxed restrictions from Apple as it counters legal challenges over its App Store rules. In an August settlement with small developers, Apple said it would allow all developers to alert users about ways to pay outside iOS apps. That month, I wrote about how some app developers, such as Gumroad, made plans to change their payment processes as a result.