Forever chasing people to pay you back for that giant pizza lunch you put on your card because no one else had any cash on them? Well now you have another method to make sure you get your sweet moolah back.
Facebook has extended your ability to seamlessly transfer money to those you have as friends on the site through their Messenger app, by allowing group payments, with US users the first to receive the service.
Previously, Messenger had added direct peer-to-peer payments in 2015 (currently this is also US-only, unless you use the TransferWise bot), but now they’ve gone one step further to allow you to send and request money from members of a group.
All you have to do is open a group conversation, tap the ‘+’ icon on the left hand side and click on the ‘payments’ option. Then you input the required amount and give a reason for the transfer.
“Starting today, you can send or receive money between groups of people on Messenger,” Facebook product manager Partha Sundaram said in a blog post on Tuesday. “It's free, simple, fast and secure. Whether you're splitting a restaurant bill or chipping in for a group gift, all you need to do is go to a new or existing Messenger group conversation to get started.”
Take a look in the video below.
This latest move comes hot on the heels of Facebook’s introduction of their AI bot, ‘M’, who will make educated suggestions of how to reply to conversations based on the context.
A Digital Trends article explains that: “If you mention going somewhere, M can detect this and will offer up a quick way to book a ride with Uber or Lyft (you can set your preference) - all without leaving the Messenger app.”
They add: “M may suggest stickers relating to whatever you’re talking about. For example, if someone says goodbye, you may see a group of stickers depicting ‘goodbye’.”
If you’re as sceptical as we are, you’ll still be getting used to allowing a contactless card to run havoc in your life, so the idea of Facebook having access to all of your money transfers is a little scary – after all, how much power can one company have?
Still, it’s a cool feature, we’ll give it that much, and it’s expected to roll out in other countries, including the UK, very soon.
