Facebook Messenger just made it a little easier to share capital between friends with friends. And the company is likely hoping that a new addition to Messenger’s payments feature means that you’ll skip Venmo to do it. Starting today in the US, users on Android and desktop PC can send payments to and split payments between groups of people. Presumably the iPhone version of Messenger will add support for group payments very soon.

Facebook actually  introduced person-to-person payments within Messenger in early 2015, but today the company announced the feature is expanding to support groups, as well. The payments feature essentially works the same in group chats as in private ones, but now allows users to pay either everyone in the group or individual members through a click of the payments icon (the dollar sign).

As with direct peer-to-peer payments, the group payments feature is free to use without hidden fees; all it takes is linking your account with a debit card.


You can send cash to (or request it from) everyone in the group chat or just certain participants. When requesting, you can either specify an amount from each person or just tell Messenger to split a total amount — with or without yourself included. Money is transferred to your bank account within five business days, perhaps not quite as quick as the reliable next-business-day deposits from Venmo. The group chat will include updates on who has paid, so you can shame friends who are tardy in paying their share.

The service is free to use and does not require a password, Facebook notes.
Payments is an area of Facebook’s business that hasn’t received as much focus over the years, despite the social network’s potential to collect and store payment data for its sizable user base – information that could then be used in other areas across Facebook – like gaming or e-commerce, for example.

Group payments is live starting today in the U.S. The feature is available on Android and desktop, but its yet to be extended to other countries.