Digital payments company PayPal announced Tuesday (Nov. 21) it has launched the ability for customers to send invoices via Facebook Messenger.
In a company blog post, the company said the new PayPal chat extension for invoicing allows sellers to create and send a PayPal invoice directly within a Facebook Messenger conversation. The invoice will include the price and image so a buyer can pay it immediately. With the new chat extension, entire transactions occur directly within the Messenger conversation.
“Commerce is continuously expanding into new contexts,” wrote Shilpa Dhar, director of product management at PayPal. “With the explosion of mobile apps, new commerce opportunities have been created and consumers are looking to make purchases in-context, without leaving those applications. PayPal is focused on helping merchants and consumers connect across a range of contexts, including these new, emerging arenas.”
Dhar noted the use of Messenger to send and complete invoices is the latest example of how the company is enabling commerce in new contexts. To use the new PayPal invoicing extension, a user must open the extension tray and choose PayPal to create the invoice before sending it. Once completed done, the buyer presses Pay with PayPal and the transaction is complete.
“We will continue partnering across the ecosystem to help simplify payment experiences and create seamless connections between consumers and merchants wherever commerce might be occurring,” wrote Dhar.
The latest features come as PayPal is expanding all sorts of partnerships. Earlier this week, the payments company announced it had inked a deal with investing platform Acorns, through which customers can use PayPal to fund their investment accounts.
In a blog post, PayPal said the deal with Acorns is part of its focus on helping consumers take better control of their financial planning to build fiscal wellness. With more than 2.3 million people in the U.S. investing via Acorns, PayPal deemed it logical to partner with the firm.
We’re always on the lookout for opportunities to partner with innovators and disruptors.
Learn More