Facebook announces new payment service

Facebook on Tuesday announced a new feature that will allow users to make payments across the social media giant’s platforms.

Facebook Pay will support most debit and credit cards as well as PayPal. Payments will be processed through companies including Stripe and PayPal.

{mosads}The service will let users send money to friends, shop from Facebook Marketplace or donate to fundraisers.

Facebook plans to roll it out on Facebook and Messenger this week in the U.S., according to a press release.

“Over time, we plan to bring Facebook Pay to more people and places, including for use across Instagram and WhatsApp,” a release said.

With Facebook Pay, the social media giant is now a direct competitor to Venmo and Apple Pay.

The announcement comes weeks after Facebook’s cryptocurrency project, Libra, suffered the loss of several major members, including PayPal.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified before the House Financial Services Committee on Libra and faced criticism over the project, which has promised to revolutionize the world financial system.

“Facebook Pay is built on existing financial infrastructure and partnerships, and is separate from the Calibra wallet, which will run on the Libra network,” the company said Tuesday.