Facebook has reportedly launched its money transfer service in the UK.
Since Google recently launched its wallet application, Tez, in India and considering the digitasation emphasis of the Indian government, we won’t be surprised if Facebook brings the service to Indian shores too. Also, India is one of the most important markets for the social network and such a service may add few more active users to its kitty.
According to The Independent, the peer-to-peer payments service is now available in the Facebook Messenger App in the UK. “You can now send or request and receive money in a chat on Facebook Messenger,” the website reported.
As reported, to send or receive money, a user has to add his or her debit card details which will become the payment account.
On the new service, Facebook said: “Messenger uses people’s authentic identities so people know who they are talking to. And when it comes to payments, we take extra steps for protection: All debit card credentials are encrypted and protected with bank level security, our world-class anti-fraud specialists monitor payments, and in the rare case that we find unauthorized activity on an account, we’ll work with them to secure the account again.”
It further added: “Plus, since payments in Messenger use debit cards, as with any other debit card payment, if there are unauthorized charges, people have recourse with their bank. Finally, Messenger payments are offered as a regulated payment service, meaning they’re directly subject to consumer protection requirements.”
According to Facebook, money will be transferred right away but may take few days to reflect in the account of the receiver.
In India, there are a dozen of e-wallet options. From Bhim to Google’s Tez there are plenty of options for the users. Now even other applications like Truecaller, Hike etc support UPI payment service.