The company that rebranded the word “friend” may soon take up a more ambitious makeover: the word “bank.”

Facebook Inc. is on the verge of winning approval from Ireland’s central bank to allow its users to store and exchange money. The company’s plans are not yet clear, but regulators are right to allow more experimentation.

Facebook will reportedly focus on the remittance market, which is growing and ripe for disruption. The World Bank estimates that remittances will top $600 billion in 2014, most of it to developing countries and more than triple the amount a decade earlier. That figure is three times greater than all the world’s aid budgets. But transaction fees, averaging 9%, are way too high. Competition from Facebook could bring those fees down quickly.

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