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Messenger lets users settle group bills

Staff Writer
By Staff Writer, ITWeb
Johannesburg, 12 Apr 2017
Facebook Messenger now allows for group payments.
Facebook Messenger now allows for group payments.

Facebook Messenger users can now send or receive money between groups of people within the app.

The messaging app first introduced person-to-person payments between two people in 2015.

Rolling out today on Android and desktop, the group payments feature lets multiple users pay a single person within a group conversation.

Partha Sundaram, product manager for consumer payments, says the service is free, simple, fast and secure. Debit or credit card information is stored within the app to make the payments.

The money is transferred right away. However, Facebook says it may take one to three business days to reflect in the relevant account ? as it does with other deposits.

"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," says Sundaram.

She says there will be a plus sign in the bottom left hand corner of a group conversation which will reveal more features, then the payments icon which is represented by a dollar sign should be tapped.

From here, users choose who to send or request money from.

"You can choose everyone in the group or only a few members. Enter the amount you want to request per person or the total sum to divide evenly, either including yourself in the calculation or not. Finally, you can specify what the money is for ? maybe a pizza party, teacher gift or more. Once you're ready, tap Request," Sundaram explains.

Once a user pays their way, a message to that effect will appear in the group so all users can see and track who still owes money.

The feature will first roll out in the US. It is not known when it will be available globally.

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