Facebook To Allow Friends To 'Message' Money
By John Dodge
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Facebook is getting into the digital payment game, entering into direct competition with PayPal.
The company on Tuesday announced that "friends" will be able to transfer money to each other via the company's Messenger feature.
The plan is to roll out the feature in the United States in the next few months, the company said.
To send money, users start a message to a friend and tap the $ icon to enter the amount of money to send.
Tapping the pay icon in the top right, will allow users to add debit card to information send money.
To receive money, users open the conversation from the friend.
They tap "Add Card" in the message and add debit card information to accept money for the first time.
"The money you send is transferred right away. It may take one to three business days to make the money available to you depending on your bank, just as it does with other deposits," Facebook said in a statement.
Users only need to enter their bank's debit card number once and they have the option of adding a PIN to provide extra security for subsequent transactions.