Facebook Messenger Is Testing a Feature to Split Payments

Meta is providing a new payment service called Split Payments that is bound to at least make you curious if not interested in it. It made the announcement on Friday along with some other news.

"If you’ve struggled with dividing up (and getting paid back for) group dinners, shared household expenses, or even the monthly rent, it’s about to get easier. Next week for Messenger fans in the US, we’re starting to test Split Payments, a free and fast way to share the cost of bills and expenses," said the Facebook blog.

To use this new feature, you simply click the “Get Started” button in a group chat or the Payments Hub in Messenger. This allows you to split a bill evenly or modify the contribution amount for each individual — with or without yourself included. Finally, you can even add a personalized message.

Once you confirm your Facebook Pay details, your request will be sent and viewable in your group chat thread. It's simple enough to be popular, but is it safe? 

Other options such as Venmo seem to be a much better fit for such activities and with Facebook's history of data breaches and violation of privacy, some customers might be wary about sharing their financial details with the firm.

In addition, in order to make Split Payments a success, Meta would need to change the way people think about the platform. And we're not talking about changing its name from Facebook to Meta.

We are referring to the fact that it's mainly seen as a way to connect with family and friends, not a financial solution. Can people get past the social influence of Meta to actually make use of its new feature? Or will other more secure and more established platforms such as Venmo always lead the way?