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Facebook already had a way to pay businesses and shop directly through Facebook messenger. Today, they announced the launch of peer-to-peer payments through the app as well. The feature launches today for U.S. users.
Here’s how to use the feature:
- 1. Open your Facebook Messenger app.
- 2. Choose a conversation with the person you’d like to pay.
- 3. Tap the blue + (plus) icon in the bottom left-hand corner.
- 4. Slect the green “Payments” button.
- 5. Choose PayPal to save money.
This feature works not only within one-on-one conversations, but it also works in group chats. Facebook is hoping that this feature will make it easy for people to split bills, pay rent and anything else that may have been placed on one check but is a group activity.
Facebook talked about the success of using apps to pay friends in their press release today:
We’re excited today to announce an expansion of our relationship with Facebook with the addition of PayPal as a funding source for peer-to-peer (P2P) payments, right in Messenger. People will have the option to send and request money using their PayPal account, and this integration in Messenger is starting to roll out to U.S. consumers today.
As the leader in P2P payments with $24 billion in P2P volume during Q3 2017 alone (up 47% year-over-year), the ability to send and request money in Messenger – one of the most widely used apps in the world – gives people more choice and more convenient ways to get things done in different contexts. Whether it’s splitting a bill for a cab ride or a night out, paying for your share of the rent, or making sure you get paid back for Mom’s birthday present, PayPal makes exchanging money between friends and family simple
In an effort to make this feature as smooth as possible, there will be a PayPal customer service bot available to users without having to leave Facebook’s app.
This feature is probably meant to compete with apps like Venmo that already let users use PayPal in order to split bills or pay friends. Apple will also be launching a payment app called Apple Pay Cash in a future update.
