Facebook Pay is Facebook’s attempt to make online money transfers easier and safer. You can use it as a deposit app to split bills with friends or as a service to order online.
Facebook introduced Facebook Pay on November 12, 2019. There was a payment platform on Facebook and Messenger before that, but only now Facebook has announced plans to bring it to their other apps and websites. – WhatsApp and Instagram.
The new idea with Facebook Pay compared to the old way that Facebook allowed online payments, which is that you can use the payment method across all of their apps. Once you register and choose a payment method, you can easily make purchases and exchange money with the recipient from any of their apps.
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Where Facebook Pay works
Facebook Pay is currently running on Facebook and Messenger, but it will also be coming to Instagram and WhatsApp. It works on all platforms, so you can use it through those websites or through the mobile apps.
Only users in the US will be able to use Facebook Pay at this time, but eventually Facebook is planning to roll it out to other countries as well.
What is Facebook Pay for?
Facebook Pay serves two purposes depending on where you’re using it – paying people and making online purchases.
Here’s what you can do (eventually, once it’s rolled out) with Facebook Pay from each of Facebook’s apps:
- Facebook: Buy things from Facebook Marketplace, donate to fundraisers you support, and buy games and event tickets.
- Message: Pay friends and family from your phone or computer.
- Instagram: Donate and order things from brands you follow.
- WhatsApp: Send and receive money just like in Messenger.
How to use Facebook Pay
The easiest way to start using Facebook Pay is to try to send someone money.
- Open a conversation with the person you want to send money to or request a money transfer.
- Tap the four-dot menu to the left of the text field. It could be an arrow if your keyboard is open. This button is a plus sign on the calculator.
- Choose Pay your friends. Click on the money icon if you are using the desktop version of the site.
- Enter the amount and optional note, then select THE REQUEST or PAY.
- Add your payment information; you can choose MORE FEMALE CARD or ADD PAYPAL. Desktop users must use a debit card at this screen.
- Select the payment method you have added to your account now.
- Choose PAY or THE REQUEST to complete the transaction. If you’ve chosen PayPal, you’ll have the option to choose which payment method from your account you’d like to use. You can also see which methods charge and which are free.
- To return to the screen where you can add a payment method, open the menu in Messenger and select Payments.
- afterward Add a new debit card or PayPal.
- If you’re using Messenger on a computer, open the menu, go to Settingand then select Management on Facebook are from Pay section.
Another way to access Facebook Pay settings is from the Facebook website.
- Open yours Facebook settings and choose Pay from the left side, and then Account Settings at top.
- To see all your Facebook Pay transactions, open Payment history your Facebook settings page, or go here.
Facebook Pay vs PayPal
Should you use Facebook Pay or PayPal? With both options available and free for most transactions, this can seem like a tough decision. However, PayPal and Facebook Pay are (currently) very different in functionality.
Here’s a quick look at PayPal and Facebook Pay:
- PayPal works in more stores
- Facebook Pay is easier to set up
- PayPal works in more countries
- Facebook Pay does not charge
- PayPal does not require a Facebook account
Facebook Pay is great for sending money to friends and family. All you need is your debit card number and you can make payments easily from any chat. In its current form, Facebook Pay is only a peer-to-peer payment platform. You can’t really buy anything with it.
This is what makes PayPal different. As you may already know, a lot of online and even physical stores allow you to pay with PayPal. All your payment information is stored in your account, and you only need to pay with your PayPal account to make purchases safely and quickly.
Another difference that is only really relevant for a short time is that Facebook Pay requires you to have a Facebook account. This is because you have to set up your account through Facebook or Messenger. However, as Facebook offers Facebook Pay to WhatsApp and Instagram users, you will be able to use the service without having to have a Facebook account.
If you don’t have a Facebook account or you don’t like using it, your only option (between these two payment platforms) is PayPal.
Another difference between Facebook Pay and PayPal is that there is currently no fee to use the former. PayPal, on the other hand, take up a certain percentage of some transactions.
PayPal also has the advantage that you can use it in more than 200 countries/regionsand exchange money in more than two dozen currencies. Facebook Pay only works with US dollars and is only available in the US (though they will expand in the future).
With that said, PayPal doesn’t have a super fast setup like Facebook Pay. If your friend doesn’t have Facebook Pay but you want to send or request money from them, they can trigger a payment from their account in just a minute or two; PayPal’s setup procedure isn’t that quick.
