Facebook Messenger aims to become so much more than just a simple chat app. One of the latest additions implemented earlier this year is the ability to transfer money via the app right there in a chat window. It’s the ultimate lazy way of sending and receiving payments but you should know it’s only available for US residents, at least for now.
What’s really nice about it, is that Facebook doesn’t charge anything for the transfers, so it’s definitely another reason to keep you within the app for longer. After all Facebook needs to gain something from this right?
It’s really easy to make money transfers using Facebook Messenger, but you will have to go through a quick setup to enable this function. Here’s what you need to do:
- Launch the Messenger app, then tap on the gear icon to open the Settings menu.
- Select the Payments option then Add new card.
- Now add the information of your US-issued debit card. There’s no support for other cards or PayPal right now.
- Now when you chat with someone and want to send them some money, just tap on the dollar sign located above the message box, send a message to that person then type in the amount you want to send them.
- For this to work, the recipient must also have his/her own US-issued debit card linked to their Messenger account – in the Payments area of the app’s Settings as described above. In the same menu, the option ‘Accept money with this card’ must be enabled. Otherwise they won’t be able to receive funds in the linked bank account.
The transfer will go through right away, plus you have the option to add a PIN number that will be needed to confirm any action to send money, just to make the transfers more secure.
Keep in mind the time needed for a payment made via Facebook Messenger to be cleared can take a few days, depending the bank you’re working it, although most of the time the process completes quickly.
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