Facebook has released an update to the money-sending feature in its Messenger app, expanding the service's coverage to New York City.
The announcement revealed that Facebook is updating the peer-to-peer payments feature of Messenger, which allows users to send money to their friends using the app.
The feature, which was first introduced back in March, was announced after Facebook poached former PayPal president David Marcus. The service has been the subject of rumors for a while before the official announcement.
The money-sending service required users to link their debit cards to their accounts on Facebook to activate the feature. To send money to friends, users will only have to tap on the small dollar sign icon in Messenger, which is located near where the stickers are placed.
The update makes using the feature even easier, with dollar amounts to be hyperlinked automatically after the sender of the money taps on the dollar sign. This will start the payment process for the dollar amount to be received by the person that the money is being sent to. The sender will then be asked to confirm the amount before the money is sent.
The updated peer-to-peer payment feature now works similarly to how website URLs, addresses and phone numbers receive automatic hyperlinks when sent through Messenger, according to Facebook.
Another new feature in the money-sending service allows users to pay friends within a group conversation without having to exit the conversation.
The payments feature in Messenger was initially rolled out in select cities in the country, including Portland, Seattle and Austin, Texas. The service is now expanding into the metropolitan area of New York City.
Messenger is slowly rolling out to the entire United States, but with mobile payments becoming more popular within Silicon Valley, Facebook might want to ramp up its efforts. Competitors such as Venmo of PayPal and Snapcash, the joint project between Snapchat and Square, are also being developed.
Facebook is looking to make Messenger the go-to app for all communication services, including sending money and requesting for customer support. According to Facebook, Messenger currently has 600 million users, which is almost half of the 1.4 billion users that use the social network.
