Snapchat introduces instant mobile payments
Snapchat is getting into the mobile payment business. It announced the release of a new payment service, called Snapcash, on Monday. Developed with payment company Square, Snapcash allows users to send and receive money instantly.
The feature is integrated into the Snapchat messaging app, which lets people send a text, video or photo that disappears as soon as it's been viewed. With the new service, when an user types a dollar amount into a text message, the app will recognize it and present a payment button that converts the suggestion of money into an actual transaction.
The payments themselves are handled by Square. People can save their MasterCard or Visa debit card information, which will be stored on Square's secure servers. (This should ease the minds of any users who worry about past Snapchat security issues, in which 100,000 photos and the personal information of 4.6 million users were leaked.)
"We set out to make payments faster and more fun, but we also know that security is essential when you're dealing with money. Square has a ton of experience in this area and our teams have been hard at work to make Snapcash a great experience for everyone," Snapchat said in its announcement.
Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel told Re/Code that he doesn't intend to compete with the likes of more established mobile payment services like Venmo or Paypal (or Square itself), but rather sees the feature as added value for Snapchat users.
Snapcash is available for Android as part of a Snapchat update that came out Monday and will be coming soon to iOS devices, Re/Code reports.