Social payments are taking a big step forward. PayPal has launched a Facebook application that lets you send money to friends.
The application, simply titled “Send Money” is as simple as its name. You have the option of sending an ecard either with money of just the money without the card. You select a card, choose a friend to send the money and select the amount to send.
“The infrastructure of PayPal and Facebook have merged,” said Anuj Nayar PayPal. “This is another way to personalize the act of giving money.”
While there are several ways to pay with PayPal through Facebook (Payvment comes to mind), this is the first application to allow peer-to-peer payments through Facebook and PayPal. And because it is a transaction of peer-to-peer, there is no transaction fee, despite the regular limits of PayPal and international rates are still valid.
“Sending money from person to person, it’s free,” said PayPal Senior Product Marketing JB Coutinho. “If it is funded by PayPal balance or linked to a bank account for free.”
And while the main aspect of the remittance application is enabling transactions through social network in the world, the appearance of electronic card is being emphasized as well. PayPal is quick to point out that over 500 million electronic cards are sent each year, and that is why PayPal offers dozens of options for everything from birthday greetings to congratulations.
We can see that the application really taking off. The Facebook users see which is the birthday of a friend can quickly shoot up the application and send a card and some money in minutes. The application is so useful for things like the lottery pools and friends reimbursement for lunch. It is a big step toward making social benefits a reality.
