Split the bill with Facebook Messenger: group payments land in US
Facebook is adding to the functionality of the payments service housed within its Messenger app, easing group payments and also perhaps encouraging more users to register their details.
A screengrab of the payment feature
Person to person payments have been on the US app since late in 2015, but Messenger is now able to sort out complex financial transactions between more than two people using a chat log as a digital ledger of sorts. Bills can be split evenly between those in the conversation or each user can contribute a select sum.
Partha Sundaram, product manager for consumer payments, said: “Starting today for Android and desktop, you can send or receive money between groups of people on Messenger. 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.”
To initiate the mode users are required to hit the $ logo featured in the app.
This comes as the company alters its core product with an onslaught of changes. Recently these include adopting fact checkers, AI assistants in Messenger, a second newsfeed and efforts to restrict revenge porn.