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Now you can send PayPal invoices over Facebook Messenger
PayPal has spent the last few months adding more integrations to make sending money easier. Sure, some are gimmicky (like 'friendship gift cards'), but a new feature to keep track of group purchases is nifty. The platform also started allowing folks to send cash over Facebook Messenger -- and now you can send invoices on it, too.
PayPal can help you save and invest money with the Acorns app
PayPal is funding several new digital services lately. You can send cash to your friends via the money service using Facebook Messenger, Skype and even PayPal's own money cards. The company also makes it easy to pool money for gifts and tip Twitch streamers. Now you can fund your Acorn investment account with PayPal, too, making it easier to take care of your financial future.
Tip your favorite Twitch streamer with PayPal
If you want to tip your favorite Twitch streamer, you need to use Bits. The video game-centric streaming service just recently added the tipping system of "cheering" with Bits to its mobile app in hopes that more folks would drop some cash. Now you can fund your Bits account or subscribe to streams with PayPal.
PayPal makes it easy to pool money for gifts
These days, you have a lot of ways to choose from when splitting bills with friends. You can send money through Facebook Messenger, chip in for dinner mid-Skype chat or even pay your debt as an email attachment on Gmail. PayPal has launched another new feature that caters to group of friends and family, but this one focuses on making things easier when pooling money for group gifts or holiday trips. "Money Pools" is PayPal's answer to its 2017 Holiday Money Habits Study finding that most Americans get stressed out when holiday shopping. You can use it to keep track of everyone's contributions and ensure that, say, all your siblings have sent in their share for mom's Christmas gift.
Facebook Messenger's money transfer tool is heading to the UK
Back in 2015, Facebook introduced the ability to send money to friends through Messenger and now it has brought that capability to UK users. It's the first time Facebook has launched the feature outside of the US.
Patreon moves to restrict adult content on its crowdfunding site
NSFW Warning: This story may contain links to and descriptions or images of explicit sexual acts. Patreon is a crowdfunding platform that enables people to receive subscription payments for the work that they do. It's a way of connecting individuals and small businesses with paying audiences, from news websites and YouTube channels through to activists and educators.
Facebook Messenger lets you send cash to friends with PayPal
Messenger started making it easier to pay your friends for dinner back in 2015 when it introduced the option to transfer money in-app with a credit or debit card. If PayPal has always been more convenient, though, you'll love this collaboration: Facebook and the payment service have teamed up to give you a new way to split the bill. You can access the feature the same way you'd pay with a card. Simply tap the blue plus icon and then tap the green Payments button to bring up the two existing options.
The creators of Vine built a trivia show app called HQ
The Vine guys are back, but this time it's with a gameshow app called HQ. However, this app isn't like you're typical trivia game where you can play whenever you want. With HQ, gameplay is live and takes place twice a day. "It's a way to give people a chance to have fun, maybe win, maybe learn something new," Vine cofounder Rus Yusupov told TechCrunch.
Online shoppers can now use Venmo to pay for their new gear
It's already great for paying back friends and splitting the rent, but Venmo is about to get even more useful. In a bid to court a more youthful generation of online shoppers, PayPal -- the popular app's parent company -- announced this morning that over 2 million US online retailers will accept payments through Venmo.
America’s cash-free future is just around the corner
Shake Shack's next burger joint at Astor Place in NYC doesn't want your money -- at least not the physical variety. In an effort to reduce the "friction time" between paying for your meal and eating it, the company plans to replace human cashiers for automated kiosks which won't accept actual bills and coins, only cards. This move is part of a global trend away from cash-based economies and towards Star Wars-style credits. But could such a monetary revolution actually benefit all Americans? Don't bet on it.
You can buy Nintendo games with Paypal now
PayPal has been on the Xbox One and PS4 stores since day one of each, but so far, Nintendo users haven't had the option. That has changed, though, as Nintendo says that Switch owners can now pay for games with PayPal directly on the console's eShop or at its web store. Wii U and 3DS owners, meanwhile, can't use PayPal directly from their consoles, but can use the payment service to buy games from Nintendo's online store.
US citizen allegedly used fake eBay sales to hide ISIS funding
According to FBI records, US citizen Mohamed Elshinawy used fake eBay sales to bring in ISIS funding for terror attacks, reports the Wall Street Journal. As part of a financial network with operatives in Britain and Bangladesh, Elshinawy pretended to sell printers on the site in order to get PayPal payments from Islamic State groups abroad.
PayPal made digital money cards to send to your friends
Remember those birthday and Christmas cards you used to get from family as a kid? They were no Game Boys or PlayStations, but they were still pretty sweet because there was almost always a few bucks tucked inside. Now, PayPal has launched a virtual counterpart to the "money card" meant to be sent to friends along with, say, your share of the dinner bill or something to help them during a difficult time.
Transfer PayPal funds mid-chat with Skype’s ‘Send Money’ feature
Skype and PayPal have teamed up to make it easier for you to transfer money to someone mid-conversation. If you're talking to a pal through the Skype mobile app and remember you need to reimburse them for those drinks they bought the other night, just swipe right and tap the new "Send Money" feature. PayPal will take it from there.
PayPal taps into your Chase and Citibank accounts
Paypal-owned mobile payment app Venmo opened up third-party app support last year in an attempt to capture more money via more merchant transactions, including those from Poshmark, Parking Panda, and Delivery.com. The service has a competitor, of course, backed by more than 30 major US banks. Zelle promises easy money transfer between the bank's own apps without having to go through a middleman like Paypal or Facebook Messenger. Two of the banks involved with Zelle, Citibank and Chase, however, have just partnered with Paypal.
Samsung Pay will soon tap into your PayPal account
Samsung Pay has been steadily increasing its payment options since it debuted two years ago, and now it's adding a new vendor to its services. Soon, Samsung Pay users will be able to use PayPal in-app, in-store and online.
Apple adds PayPal as payment option for iTunes
You probably already have a credit card associated with your Apple ID to pay for any app, music, movie or book. But if you want to use your PayPal balance or just prefer paying for everything via PayPal, you can now do just that. Starting today, you can use PayPal for any iTunes, App Store or Apple Music transaction made through an iPhone, an iPad or an iPod using your PayPal account. PayPal promises to make the feature available in other locations, including the US "soon after," though it didn't give a timeframe for the rollout. The feature is now available for iOS users in the US, UK, Canada, Mexico, Australia, Austria, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain.
Elon Musk buys his old X.com domain from PayPal
Elon Musk is without a doubt the most famous single-letter domain owner ever, as his company X.com eventually became PayPal. Unfortunately, when Musk was pushed out, the domain (with its aught-tastic logo, above) stayed behind with PayPal. However, the SpaceX and Tesla CEO has bought it back for an unknown sum, according to Domain Investing and a tweet by Musk. Nobody's saying how much he paid, but as a term of reference, Z.com sold for around $6.8 million three years ago.
PayPal 'instantly' transfers money to your bank account
PayPal can be frustrating if you want to put funds in your bank account. It can take a day or more for transfers to go through, and that's a problem when rival services like Zelle can promise speedier access to your money without needing a separate app. To that end, PayPal is rolling out an instant transfer option in the US. So long as you're willing to accept a 25-cent transaction fee, your funds will hit your bank account within a few minutes, and no more than 30 minutes in the worst cases. If you withdraw money from PayPal before a shopping trip, it should be ready to use by the time you get to the store.
Zelle takes on Venmo from within your bank's app
From Venmo and PayPal to Facebook Messenger, Google Wallet and even iMessage, there are plenty of ways to send money to your friends online. But these all require your contacts to have accounts set up to receive funds, which often causes friction when you're using different services or they don't want to download new apps. A new tool called Zelle should solve that problem. It works with more than 30 major US banks to allow interbank transfer from within each company's app, so you or your friends don't have to set up new profiles or crowd up your already-cluttered phones with more downloads.