Facebook Pay is Facebook’s effort to make online money transfers easier and safer. You can use it as an app to send money to split an account with friends, or as a service for online orders.
Facebook introduced Facebook Pay on November 12, 2019. Since then, a payment platform has existed on Facebook and Messenger, but only now Facebook announced plans to add it to its other apps and websites – WhatsApp and Instagram.
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The new idea with Facebook Pay, compared to the old way Facebook allowed online payments, is that you can use the payment method in all of your apps. After registering and choosing a payment method, you can easily buy items and exchange money with recipients from any of their apps.
Facebook Pay workspace
Facebook Pay currently works on Facebook and Messenger, but will also appear on Instagram and WhatsApp. It works on all platforms, so you can use it on those websites or mobile apps.
Currently, only US users can use Facebook Pay, but Facebook plans to eventually roll out it in other countries as well.
Facebook Pay Utility
Facebook Pay serves two purposes depending on where you use it – to pay people and to shop online.
Here’s what you can do (eventually, after implementation) with Facebook Pay from every Facebook app:
- Facebook: Buy stuff on the Facebook Marketplace, donate funds you support, and buy games and tickets for events.
- Messenger: Pay your friends and family from your phone or computer.
- Instagram: Make donations and order items 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 sending money to someone.
- Start a conversation with the person you want to send or request money to.
- Click the four-dot menu to the left of the text box. It could be an arrow if your keyboard is open. This button is a plus sign on computers.
- Select Pay Friend. Click on the money icon if you are using the PC version of the site.
- Enter an amount and an optional note, then select INQUIRY or PAY.
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- Add your billing information; you can choose ADD DEBIT CARD or ADD PAYPAL. Desktop users must use a debit card on this screen.
- Choose a payment method when you added it to your account.
- Select PAY or INQUIRY to complete the transaction. If you chose PayPal, you will have the option to choose from your account which payment method you want to use. You can also see which methods charge you and which are free.
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- To return to the screen where you can add a payment method, open the menu in Messenger and select Payments.
- Then “Add a new debit card or PayPal”.
- If you are using Messenger on your computer, open the menu, go to Settings and select Manage Facebook under Payments.
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Another way to access your Facebook Pay settings is from the Facebook website.
- Open Facebook settings and select Payments on the left and then Account Settings at the top.
- To view all your Facebook Pay transactions, open the Payment History page of your Facebook preferences or go here
Facebook Pay vs. PayPal
Should you use Facebook Pay or PayPal? Since both options are available and free for most transactions, this can seem like a difficult decision. However, PayPal and Facebook Pay (currently) differ greatly in functionality.
Here’s a quick overview of 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 commission
- PayPal does not require a Facebook account
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Facebook Pay is great for sending money to friends and family. All you need is a debit card number and you can easily make payments from any conversation. In its current form, Facebook Pay is just a peer-to-peer payment platform. You can hardly buy anything for this.
This is the difference between PayPal. As you may already know, many online stores and even physical stores allow you to pay with PayPal. All of your payment information is stored in your account and you can simply check your PayPal account to shop safely and quickly.
Another difference that only really matters for a short time is that Facebook Pay requires you to have a Facebook account. This is because you need to create your account via Facebook or Messenger. However, once Facebook makes Facebook Pay available to WhatsApp and Instagram users, you can use this service even without a Facebook account.
If you don’t have a Facebook account or don’t want to use one, your only option (between the two payment platforms) is PayPal.
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Another difference between Facebook Pay and PayPal is that there is currently a zero charge for using the first payment. PayPal, on the other hand, accepts a certain percentage of certain transactions.
PayPal also has the advantage that you can use it in over 200 countries / regions and exchange money in over two dozen currencies. Facebook Pay only works with USD and is only available in the US (although they will expand in the future).
That being said, PayPal doesn’t have the super-fast setup like Facebook Pay If your friend doesn’t have Facebook Pay, but you want to send or request money from him, he will be able to authorize payments from his account in just a minute or two; The PayPal setup process is not that quick.
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