Facebook Payments Rolls Out – Here Is What You Need to Know
A few months ago Facebook announced that they would be launching a peer to peer payment system. While it has been rolling out in stages, I have been able to test it both on desktop and mobile. Lets take a look.
Sending Money on the Messenger App & on Desktop
While the screens may look slightly different, the process of paying someone works the same on both the desktop and in the mobile app.
- To pay someone, simply start a conversation with them and click the little $ icon.
- Next chose the amount you want to pay.
- Finally enter in the debit card number of the card you want to use.
Prepaid Debit Cards
So now that you know how to take payments, you probably want to know if prepaid debit cards can be used. After all, if this were possible it would open up so many possibilities.
Here is Facebook’s official policy regarding what type of cards are accepted:
You can send or receive money in Messenger using a debit card issued by a US bank.
Credit cards, prepaid bank cards and PayPal aren’t supported right now.
Ok so we know they don’t officially support prepaid debit cards, but do they work? The answer is unfortunately no. No luck at all.
I tested the system with the following type of cards and each one failed:
- Metabank Visa
- Vanilla Visa
- Staples Rebate Card
- Agfed Visa
What Happens
When trying to enter in the card number on mobile, after the 6th or 7th digit a popup will appear that says, “This card can’t be used. Please enter a US debit card from Visa or Mastercard.”
On desktop, after entering in all of the card information and clicking the “Pay” button, the following error appears.
What to Do
So this could be a very handy way to pay friends/family without any fees if you owe them some money. Unfortunately it is not a great way to manufacture spend. It seems that Facebook took the time to make sure their system was built in the “right” way.
I wasn’t able to test every single prepaid debit card, so it is possible that one or two might slip through the cracks given that Facebook seems to be blocking them by card number. With that said, I find that it is highly unlikely any prepaid debit cards will work at this point.
Conclusion
The idea of a free peer to peer payment system setup by a huge company with deep pockets was an intriguing one. Fortunately for most people Facebook’s new system seems to work well and it is without complication or fees. For those of us in this hobby though, it is just another interesting service that most likely doesn’t meet our needs.
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I bought a Visa prepay debit. Have never done this. The cashier at Walmart told me to use this 1. My daughter is in need of the money desperately. It will not work on messenger. This was all the money I had and no other option… now what. She hasn’t eaten all day and worked a 12 hr shift and sitting out of gas and no way to get home in the middle of the night… my God. Yall need to fix this
So chime is this a problem to use cause my friend just set me money
So chime doesn’t work?
Yes I’ve used my chime card
I had someone send me 100 and I used a netspend card as a method to receive the payment. My husband gets direct deposit on this card but I just seen fb does not accept prepaid… It allowed me to put the debit card information on Facebook and said the payment was recieved. Does that mean that this payment worked? Has anyone used a netsped card and do you know how long it takes to get my money?
I just had my $435.00 wired too two people via Facebook from my stolen debit card, i didn’t even know you could do that through f.b.. is there a number i can call to report this fraud?
You should call your bank and file a claim with them and also you may want to try to contact facebook – but contacting your bank is most important. They can cancel the stolen card, issue you a new one, and reimburse you the money once they investigate.
I have also been using my PP business debit card for the better part of a year without any issues. The last time it worked was July 26th. I get the same message about certain bank debits card don’t work. Hopefully this is only temporary, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it is not. I’d be willing to bet that PP is the one blocking the transactions.
I’ve been using FB payments with my PP business debit for a year now and it suddenly stopped working this morning, says something about not being able to use that card at the moment and how some bank debit cards don’t work. Anyone else encountering the same thing?
It’s says my money was received does that mean it worked when my aunt sent it too me and I added my Debit card and it said payment was processed how long do I have too wait too get it and did I do it right thank you for your time
Yes you did it right.
I’ve tried numerous times to get Facebook to accept my prepaid NetSpend card, even the card itself clearly states on the front of it Debit, Facebook still rejects it saying No Credit Cards accepted.
I was traveling ran out of gas, made it to a gas station, had my father send me $20, and Facebook denied my card in a crisis situation, I couldn’t receive the money, couldn’t get the gas I needed, and had to sit and wait for a rescue, that really sucked, thanks Facebook
How long did it take for your help to arrive? We talking a couple hours or? Also where were you on your way to when you ran out of gas and what time of the day was it? Did you try panhandling at all? What city were you in? I just want you to know Michael that if I had seen you stranded at a gas station on that wretched day, I would have been there for you.
How long did it take to receive on account?
Is it instant or almost instant like Square Cash?
It’s just like Square Cash. And just as with Square Cash, do not use a major bank debit card because my friend got shut down for receiving payments on his Chase Debit. Use a credit union.
Has anybody tried Nationwide Visa Buxx for facebook?
Yes, it will not let you add NW Buxx
Any thoughts on whether or not sending small Facebook payments via Paypal Business Debit Card (funded by MyCash) will cause Paypal to limit your account?
[…] Facebook’s New Free Payment Service – Is It Good For Manufactured Spend? – Testing out Facebook’s new payment system to see whether prepaid debit cards work to send payments for free. […]
” Credit cards, prepaid bank cards and PayPal aren’t supported right now.” May be a future option, though FB will likely charge for it then.
[…] like Miles to Memories tested prepaid. No dice. See here: http://milestomemories.boardingarea….comment-299389 How does recipient cash out? Are there limits? Per […]
Ditto what Presley said. How does the recipient cash it out? Also, are there per transaction or per day or per month limits?
Hello just a quick question. Once you send the money to someone how do they cash it?
it goes into their debit card.
PayPal business debit confirmed to work – I tried two days ago.
Other cards that didn’t work: redbird, bluebird, clinkle treats, chime, oink, and NW buxx
So if I send $100 from debit linked to my fb account to partner’s fb account, it will download to his debit that is linked to his fb account and thus go into his bank account? So this would then be a deposit/credit in his bank account?
That’s how I understand it. Might be a handy way to meet minimum debit transactions for rewards checking accounts…
I tried it with the Paypal Debit Business card earlier this month and it worked, do you think it has changed since then?
how does it post on paypal?
It posts as:
FB *NAME OF PERSON PAY.FB.COM CA
Debit Card Signature Purchase
Thanks!
Let us know if you get 1% back on that transaction from PayPal.