Facebook Messenger, PayPal Partner On P2P

On Friday (Oct. 20), PayPal and Facebook announced news that they are expanding their partnership. Facebook users will now be able to send and receive peer-to-peer money transfers through PayPal from within the social media website’s Messenger app.

Facebook has been busy expanding the range of services offered within its mobile application, recently moving to monetize its instant article and Messenger games features for publishers and developers.

Last year, the companies teamed up to allow customers to shop with PayPal from within the Facebook’s Messenger app. The communication platform was also available for PayPal users to communicate with one another.

“We’re excited today to announce an expansion of our relationship with Facebook with the addition of PayPal as a funding source for peer-to-peer (P2P) payments, right in Messenger,” said Bill Ready, COO of PayPal. “People will have the option to send and request money using their PayPal account, and this integration in Messenger is starting to roll out to U.S. consumers today.”

The company processed $24 billion in P2P payments during Q3 of 2017, a figure that is 47 percent higher than the same metric last year. PayPal also saw mobile payments grow by 54 percent in 2017, to a total of $40 billion.

“It is not about changing the swipe or dip to a tap; it’s about using a [smart]phone to do things that you could not otherwise do,” Ready said in September.

In addition to its peer-to-peer money transfer service, PayPal is also introducing a customer service chatbot to the app. Users will be able to use the bot to handle account inquiries and resolve payment issues from within Messenger.

Earlier this month, PayPal expanded its partnership with Mastercard to include Canada, Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean, the Middle East and Africa.

PayPal’s P2P money transfer capabilities arrive on Messenger before Apple Pay Cash, which was expected to launch sometime this year, releases for iOS devices.