Facebook offers a payment system, called Facebook Pay, which lets you send money to friends, shop for goods, and even donate.

What is Facebook Pay?

Facebook Pay is designed to facilitate payments across Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp. Facebook said it's part of "ongoing work to make commerce more convenient, accessible, and secure" for its users.

Facebook pay was initially made available for fundraisers, person-to-person payments, ticket purchases, in-game purchases, and some purchases from pages and businesses on Facebook's Marketplace. Now it has been fully integrated with Instagram and Messenger, in supported countries, and WhatsApp support is starting to roll out too.

The service, which is different from Facebook's Calibra and Libra efforts, is "built on existing financial infrastructure and partnerships", according to Facebook. It is using Stripe, PayPal, and other processors to handle payments.

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Facebook

How does Facebook Pay work?

Facebook Pay is designed to be as simple as possible, so getting started doesn't require any additional apps, you can use Facebook Pay directly in the app you wish to use.

You can access Facebook Pay in the settings section of the Facebook, Messenger and Instagram apps. Once you have added a payment method you can easily send money to friends, make a purchase or donate to a cause.

To access Facebook Pay on Facebook

  1. Go to Settings and privacy then Payments and select Facebook Pay on the Facebook app or website.
  2. Add a payment method.

To access Facebook Pay on Instagram

  1. Tap your profile icon at the bottom right of your screen
  2. Press the more button at the top right (three horizontal lines)
  3. Select Orders and payments
  4. Choose Payment settings
  5. Add a payment method

Facebook said it won't automatically set up Facebook Pay across the apps you actively use unless you choose to do so.

Which payment methods are supported?

Facebook Pay supports most debit and credit cards as well as PayPal, in supported countries.

Where is Facebook Pay available?

Facebook Pay is available in countries across Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East and North America.

While most countries have support on the Facebook app, support for WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger is rolling out gradually.

In the UK, we have access on both Facebook and Instagram.

In the United States, Facebook and Messenger are supported.

You can check regional availability here.

What is Meta Pay?

In June 2022 Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the company is rebranding Facebook Pay to Meta Pay and is creating a digital wallet for the metaverse. The plan is to create a secure way to manage your digital funds and also your ownership of digital items.

This includes ownership of everything from digital clothing to art, music, virtual experiences, special virtual events and much more. Meta Pay is planned to be a seamless way to manage digital ownership and identity across any metaverse experience. The rebranding is the first step in this change. 

Want to know more?

For more information, visit pay.facebook.com.