Splitting shared payments can be difficult, whether it’s quickly dividing up a dinner bill for several people or wrangling everyone’s share of rent in shared accommodation.
These are a common enough struggles, and ones Facebook says it wants to help ease.
As part of a year in review feature published on its website Friday (Dec. 3), the social media platform announced it was testing a new Split Payments feature for Messenger, calling it “a free and fast way to share the cost of bills and expenses.”
To use the tool, users can click the “Get Started” button in a group chat or the Messenger payments hub. From there, users can split a bill evenly or modify each person’s contribution.
Once they’ve entered a personalized message and confirmed their Facebook Pay details, the rest will be sent and able to be viewed by everyone in the group chat.
Read more: Super App or Not, Facebook Pay Knows It Needs to Close The Consumer Trust Gap
In an interview with PYMNTS’ Karen Webster in August, Facebook Consumer Product Management head Meron Colbeci seemed to hint at Split Payments eventual arrival.
Colbeci said that Facebook Pay’s end goal was to expand to every aspect of Facebook experience, going everywhere users interact and letting them “close the loop” without needing to leave Facebook.
“We’re trying to go where our users want us to go,” Colbeci said. “So, when someone is talking about dinner last night, they can say, ‘Hey, do you mind paying me back?’ We have a way to enable that transaction right there and then.”
See also: Facebook Pay Tests Use Of Personalized QR Codes
This year has seen some significant changes for Facebook Pay, which was launched in 2019 and is already a part of the company’s apps, including Instagram and WhatsApp.
In April, news broke that Facebook Pay was testing the payments through person-to-person QR codes, which would allow users to transfer funds instantly with a quick scan, as well as the use of personalized payment links.
In July, the platform also announced plans to make Facebook Pay available outside its own website, starting with an integration with Shopify merchants.
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