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Moving Money by Messenger
Q. Can you use a credit card to pay people with Facebook Messenger?
A. Facebook announced last year that it was adding a payments feature to its Messenger mobile app, but as of now, you cannot use a credit card. You can only send and receive money with a connected debit card, and the card must be a MasterCard or Visa issued by a bank in the United States.
Facebook uses these types of debit cards so it can deposit the money someone sends you right into your bank account (and vice versa). It does not accept other types of funding like credit cards, prepaid cards or government-issued bank cards for social services. You cannot use PayPal, either.
If you do have a compatible debit card, open the Facebook Messenger app and tap the Settings icon at the bottom of the screen. On the Settings page, select Payments. On the next screen, tap Add New Debit Card and fill in the requested information. (To remove a debit card from Messenger, return to this screen.)
In the payment settings area, you can also require a PIN or TouchID fingerprint to authorize any Facebook Messenger transactions. The company says it uses several layers of security to protect your data, but warns its users to exchange money only with friends and acquaintances. As always, you should avoid suspicious links and watch out for the typical lottery, donation and other scams that may come your way.
After you have added your debit card, you can send money to a friend by creating a message to that person, tapping the Payments dollar sign icon at the bottom of the screen and filling in the amount. (If you do not see the dollar-sign icon, tap the three-dot More menu to find the Payments option.) Once you tap Pay, the money is on its way — but keep in mind that banks may take a few days to process the transfer.
Personal Tech invites questions about computer-based technology to techtip@nytimes.com. This column will answer questions of general interest, but letters cannot be answered individually.
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