Facebook seems to be positioning itself as a challenge to PayPal, Venmo and other money transfer services with a new payment feature being tested on the Messenger app.
The transfer system, which allows users to send funds after entering their debit card information, appears to be all ready to go, TechCrunch reported.
Facebook's move to poach former PayPal president David Marcus as the recently instated head of Facebook Messenger now seems clear since the app will compete with other money transfer options.
Stanford computer science student Andrew Aude uncovered the new feature using a developer tool called Cycript.
Aude told TechCrunch, "based on my understanding of the debit interchange rates, each transaction will cost Facebook roughly $0.40 to $0.50 (Durbin swipe fee + ACH fee). The app didn't mention a fee to send, so it's probably free, at least initially. Over time they might add a $1 fee."
Payments through Messenger are peer-to-peer for now, but the app will allow for group payments in the future, says a note in Messenger code.
"The mechanism it uses is to debit one account, and then use some magical means to look up the bank account number of the recipient and ACH [Automated Clearing House] deposit it, Identical to Square Cash," Aude described the transfer process.
Facebook could monetize the transfer service by charging a small fee; however, the peer-to-peer payment system could also be offered for free to entice users to Messenger.
The world's biggest social network has been looking to split its "big blue app" into multiple functions and earlier this year axed the chat feature from the main Facebook app in an effort to bring more users to the standalone Messenger app.
See Now: OnePlus 6: How Different Will It Be From OnePlus 5?
