While Facebook originally started as a simple networking site, it has grown its offerings a lot in the past few years. Now, you can do tons of stuff on Facebook, from chatting to hosting events.
One of these newer features is Facebook Pay. Let’s take an in-depth look at this feature below, as well as how to use it.
What Is Facebook Pay?
Facebook Pay is a straightforward payment method that works through messenger. To begin using this feature, you’ll have to add a primary payment method to your account. All payments sent to you end up in this account. You can also send money to friends and family utilizing this feature. Unlike similar services, Facebook Pay is free.
For more information on using this service and how safe it is, keep reading.
How Do You Use Facebook Pay?
Using Facebook Pay requires having the Messenger app downloaded on your phone or tablet. After installation is complete (or after opening an already-installed app), start a chat with the person you wish to send the money to.
Next, click the blue plus at the bottom of the chat and click the “$” symbol.
Enter the dollar amount you would like to send and select pay. Next, a confirmation message will appear to ensure that you meant to send that amount of money.
If you have a Meta PIN set up, you’ll also have to enter it to confirm your payment.
You’ll only be able to send money if you have a valid payment method linked to your Facebook account. Therefore, you’ll have to link a payment method if you’ve never used Facebook Pay before.
How Do I Receive Facebook Pay?
To receive Facebook Pay, you’ll need to have a payment method linked to your account. We recommend linking a method before using Facebook Pay, whether you’re planning to send money or not.
If you already have a method uploaded when the money is sent, it automatically gets transferred to your primary payment methods.
However, it can take 3-5 business days for your bank to post this money to your account. While Facebook automatically sends the money, it usually doesn’t appear in your account right away.
Is Facebook Pay Safe?
Generally, Facebook is very concerned with keeping its users safe. For this purpose, they hire cybersecurity experts to help users stay safe across their platforms. However, there is always the chance that they will have a breach (which has happened in the past).
When using Facebook Pay, Facebook doesn’t actually hold any of the cash. Instead, the company simply acts as a middleman to transfer money from one bank to another. Furthermore, the company’s software provides some security during this process.
Firstly, the transaction is encrypted to prevent critical information from being easily read. There is an extra layer of encryption over payments in particular, though all Facebook messages are encrypted.
Secondly, your payment information doesn’t ever get seen by the other person. Therefore, you don’t have to worry about the other person seeing the information.
However, Facebook may ask you for information that only you would know, like your social security number, date of birth, or zip code. Of course, this information isn’t seen by anyone but Facebook.
Instead, Facebook uses it to verify your identity.
On top of these security measures, there are also various steps you can take to keep these transactions safe. For instance, you should only send money to people you know and trust.
In many cases, setting up two-factor authentication can also prevent your account from being compromised.
How Much Does It Cost to Use Facebook Pay?
Currently, Facebook Pay is completely free. You can receive and send funds for no money. However, you may have to pay a fee from your bank or other payment processors, depending on the one you are using.
For instance, PayPal will still charge the standard fees even if you technically used Facebook Pay to make the payment.
However, there are many banks and processors that don’t have any fees. Therefore, it is possible to use Facebook Pay without spending any money on fees.
Is Facebook Pay the Same as PayPal?
No. Facebook Pay and PayPal are completely different. While you can use Facebook Pay to send money to a PayPal account, these two services are completely different.
Firstly, Facebook Pay is completely free, while PayPal is known for having very high fees. Plus, PayPal also works a bit like a bank and even has its own credit card. On the other hand, Facebook Pay never actually holds any of the money you send.
If you use Facebook and other social media sites a lot, then it may make sense to utilize Facebook Pay. For instance, it makes more sense to use Facebook Pay to send money to friends and family.
However, PayPal offers things like payment protection that you can’t get with Facebook Pay. Therefore, it works better for businesses, and when sending money to people, you don’t know and trust.
How Long Does it Take to Receive Money from Facebook Pay?
When you’re receiving money through Facebook Pay, Facebook technically sends the money instantly to the receiver’s primary payment location. However, how long it takes that bank to receive and process the money varies.
However, none of this is done on Facebook’s side of things. Instead, it depends on the bank. Therefore, the bank you’re using matters a lot. Some get payments transferred very quickly, while others may take up to a week.
Therefore, however long it usually takes payments to process at your bank is what you should expect.
To know more, you can also read our posts on Facebook Timeline, Facebook Rooms, and Facebook Events.
Conclusion
Facebook Pay is a pretty straightforward feature that allows you to send money to friends and family. This feature works through messenger, so you can only send money to Facebook friends.
Using this feature is simple. However, you need to set up an accepted payment method first. When sending money, the payment will come from this payment method. However, you’ll also receive money via this payment method.
Therefore, we recommend using a primary banking account of some sort.
