Although Facebook is downplaying its "Pay With Facebook" project, there's a good chance the social notworking site will try to evolve into something much more serious, a Facebank of sorts.

One of Facebook's engineers, Ivan Kirigin, says that the online payment service could become a major source of income for the outfit. He claims that third party payment services don't add enough value, and thinks Facebook could control cash flow itself. He thinks a payment system integrated into Facebook or Twitter could be a big success, and with 250 million Facebook users, it's rather hard not to share his optimism.

Facebook's advertising revenues are expected to near $475 million in 2009, which is really not bad for a company nobody had ever heard of a few years back. However, some Facebook execs believe that the company could generate even more revenues through online payments, and once again we believe that they could be on to something.

So apart from getting your daily serving of gossip and invitations to pointless altruistic social groups, you could start getting some invoices or bills when you open your profile. With all the hype surrounding Facebook, we wouldn't be surprised if its payment service becomes a household name within a couple of years.

More here.