Facebook Messenger Payments Feature Now Available in NYC

Facebook users based in New York City and the nearby metro area can now make P2P (peer-to-peer) payments through the official Messenger app. Since its launch in March, the feature has rolled out in Portland, Seattle, and Austin.

The social media giant also released several updates to the app, which are designed to ease online transactions.

Users now have two options for initiating payments during a conversation. Typing a dollar sign along with a numerical amount will automatically turn the message into a transaction. A hyperlink is provided that prompts the individual to pay or send the requested funds. The receiver then confirms the payment and receives the money digitally.

Previously, the only method to start a transaction using the app was through the dollar icon in the edit field.

According to the timely press release, Facebook has also enabled the payments feature in group chats:

“If people are engaged in a group conversation, they can now pay friends individually within the group on desktop without having to leave the group conversation. People in the group conversation will be able to see who paid whom and for how much.”

At the moment, there is no way to make payments privately in a group conversation. For such transactions, users will need to switch back to a one-on-one message window.

With over 500 million users on Messenger and 1.4 billion immersed in other Facebook services, Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of the global brand, hopes to directly compete with other messaging platforms that offer similar products, such as Snapchat’s Snapcash..

To help boost its future offerings, Facebook hired ex-PayPal president, David Marcus, last year. The entrepreneur formerly owned Zong, a mobile payments business, which was sold to PayPal in 2011 for $240 million.