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Facebook introduced Facebook Pay to allow users to easily send and receive money in Messenger. This feature is already available in the USA, but was recently expanded to Spain. When you start a chat with someone who also has an account, you will see the option “Send Money” at the top right of your screen.
For now it seems that Facebook Pay is only available for personal chats and not groups or businesses. Facebook Messenger’s FAQ page does mention that they are working on expanding this feature to group chats as well as other Facebook apps like WhatsApp and Oculus.
Similar to how PayPal works, you will need a debit card or your bank account details to complete the payment process. This article from USA Today offers step by step instructions on how to set up your account.
Once you have added your bank information, Facebook will automatically detect when you are chatting with someone who uses the same feature and the “Send Money” option will appear at the top of your screen under their name. You can only send money in Messenger if both parties are located in the USA and have Facebook Pay enabled.
There are some restrictions to what you can and cannot do on Facebook, so only use this feature if you know the person well enough. It is not recommended to send money as a first option of communication with someone that you just started chatting with or added as a friend. That being said, it is a very convenient feature to have when you need to send money quickly.
When you receive money in an chat, Messenger will then ask if it can use your debit card or bank account that you used before to complete the payment process. If everything goes through, Facebook will credit the exact amount of money that was sent in your balance section within 48 hours. This is a very practical feature to have, especially for those who live outside of the USA and depend on money transfers from their families.
This article from The New York Times talks about how young users are using this option as an alternative to Venmo or Western Union. Facebook’s main goal with this Messenger update is to help users find new ways to transfer money and make it as simple as possible. Many people still prefer to use cash for their day-to-day expenses, but some are slowly moving towards credit cards or even digital wallets that can be accessed from their mobile phone.
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