RBC is the first bank in North America to introduce electronic Interac money transfer for Facebook messenger contacts.
While bank customers typically use a contact's email address or mobile phone number to conduct Interac e-Transfers, now friends on their Facebook Messenger list can obtain funds from their Royal Bank account. A message will arrive in the recipient's Facebook Messenger inbox, prompting them to log in to their own bank to deposit the funds.
"We worked closely with RBC to make it easier for people to send person-to-person money transfers to contacts on Messenger in a safe and secure way. Every day, 9.4 million Canadians use Facebook on their mobile device to connect with people they care about, and this new app provides a meaningful service for RBC customers," said Jordan Banks, global head of Vertical Strategy and managing director, Facebook Canada.
Currently, the RBC Canada app is only available for iPads, but by this February an iPhone version will be released with other platforms to follow later in 2014.
For every Interac e-Transfer messaged via Facebook, RBC will donate $1 to support Kids Help Phone, up to $100,000.