Yesterday Facebook announced a new feature in Messenger that allows people a more convenient and secure way to send or receive money between friends. This feature will be being rolled out in the US in the foreseeable months.
Facebook is responding to Snapchat’s payments feature called Snapcash which is also a person to person payment transfer. This isn’t a surprise after David Marcus left PayPal in June to become the vice president of messaging products at Facebook.
Messenger users must link a Visa or MasterCard debit card to their account to transfer funds. Then, users can send funds to others by tapping a dollar sign button in either the Messenger app or the desktop version’s chatbox.
For extra security, users are prompted to set an in-app payments passcode or Apple TouchID fingerprint to confirm transfers, though they can opt-out of this extra authentication in the settings. If users already have a debit card on file with Facebook from gaming, ads or donations, they can use that, too.
Facebook said Messenger payments will be free as the company rolls out the service to U.S. users in the coming months. Some 500 million consumers use the Messenger app on iOS and Android devices.
