Facebook Inc. FB, +4.45% denied a report earlier Monday in The Wall Street Journal that suggested the social media giant was in talks with large banks to acquire access to detailed financial information about their customers, including card transactions and checking account balances. The effort, according to the Journal, is aimed at offering additional products in apps such as Messenger that would do things like let people check their checking account balance. Facebook pitched fraud alerts as well, the Journal reported. In a statement Facebook said that the Journal story incorrectly implied "that we are actively asking financial services companies for financial transaction data - this is not true." Facebook said that the company partners with banks and credit card companies to offer customer service or account management features within its Messenger software. "The idea is that messaging with a bank can be better than waiting on hold over the phone - and it's completely opt-in," the statement says. "We're not using this information beyond enabling these types of experiences - not for advertising or anything else." Facebook stock is up 3.6% to $184.23 in early afternoon trading as the S&P 500 index SPX, +0.35% has gained 0.4%.
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