Tweet money transfer: Twitter and French bank BPCE will let users transfer cash via twitter
Twitter is partnering with French bank BPCE to launch a new service that lets people transfer money between them by simply tweeting.
Details of the plans are due to be unveiled tomorrow by BPCE’s mobile payment off-shoot S-Money.
The French bank said those using the free peer-to-peer transfer service would need just a bank card and a twitter account. The service will also work regardless of which institution people bank with, however the service will only be available in France.
S-Money chief Nicolas Chatillon said the service offers “Twitter users in France a new way to send each other money, irrespective of their bank and without having to enter the beneficiary’s bank details, with a simple Tweet.”
While Twitter France boss Olivier Gonzalez said: “We warmly welcome this innovation developed by Groupe BPCE and the service it provides to Twitter users in France by integrating its S-Money service into a live, public, conversational dimension characteristic of Twitter.”
The partnership is another sign that the mobile payment industry is hotting up and where social networks, mobile networks and startups have as much chance of cashing in on the emerging trend as much as traditional banking and financial services.
It’s an early move for Twitter into the payment space in comparison to more established tech firms. Apple only just dipped its toes into the challenging world of mobile payments with the launch of Apple Pay at the same time it announced the iPhone 6.
Twitter has also been trying out a “buy” button in tweets as it attempts to expand the services it can rely upon for revenue. Advertising is currently its biggest money spinner, however the extent of Twitter’s stake in the new money transfer service is not yet clear.