Code Conference

Facebook's Marcus: Messenger not a payment app

Facebook Messenger's strategy
VIDEO7:0907:09
Facebook Messenger's strategy

Facebook's David Marcus said on Thursday that the company isn't trying to build a payment business through its messenger app, as many outsiders have anticipated. (Tweet this)

"Peer-to-peer payments is never going to be a source of profit for anyone," Marcus said in an interview on CNBC's "Squawk Alley."

Read MoreFacebook Messenger hits 600M monthly active users

"We're not interested in building a payments business. We're interested in trying to build the best possible experience."

Marcus, who is Facebook's vice president of messaging products, spoke to CNBC in an interview from the Code Conference in Rancho Palos Verdes, California. He was formerly president of PayPal.

The app has just north of 600 million active users, said Marcus. In March the company announced that it would allow person to person debit card payments through Messenger.

Read More Facebook adds video calling to Messenger app

He explained that the Facebook strategy is to elevate the communication experience through the app. Now users can make phone and video calls through Messenger. "We'll continue innovating around how you can upgrade from text to other things, but we think that text is still going to be the primary communication media for a long time," he said.