Facebook Inc entered the complicated and highly regulated market of electronic payments earlier this year when it announced that Messenger would allow users to directly transfer money to one another through the app. The payment options have now expanded to New York City, and a few new features have been added to make the tool easier to use.

The idea behind Messenger payments, at least according to Facebook, is to make it easier for friends and family to transfer money as easily as handing someone some cash. The social network notes examples like paying someone back for dinner or having a friend buy movie or concert tickets for a group.

Here are the new features added in the most recent update to Messenger:

• Now in your Messenger conversations, dollar amounts are automatically hyperlinked and when tapped, will start a payment for that amount to the person you’re messaging. The sender can then confirm the payment before sending. This is similar to how addresses, phone numbers, or website URLs are automatically hyperlinked in Messenger.
• If people are engaged in a group conversation, they can now pay friends individually within the group on desktop without having to leave the group conversation. People in the group conversation will be able to see who paid whom and for how much.

“These new capabilities make it even simpler to send and receive money within Messenger,” Facebook said in an email. “Whether you’re chatting about weekend plans or paying back a friend, it’s now easier than ever to finish the conversation about money in the same place it starts — Messenger.”

The payment features are not available everywhere yet, but the social network plans on slowly rolling the ability out to more locations.

“We have taken a phased roll-out approach since the product’s initial launch in March,” Facebook said, “and we will continue to share updates as functionality expands.”

Payments are just one part of Facebook’s plot to dominate every facet of our lives through Messenger. In recent months, the chat app also gained voice chatting capabilities, and in the future it will be its own dedicated app platform separate from iTunes or Play Store.

Image credit: Facebook (c)