UPDATED 07:15 EDT / NOVEMBER 18 2014

Selfies for cash? Snapchat teams with Square to send money with Snapcash

snapcash in actionIt seems Snapchat Inc. also wants a piece of the mobile wallet pie. In a blog post on Monday they revealed their very own peer-to-peer payment functionality dubbed “Snapcash”, powered by Square Inc..

Integrated into Snapchat itself, Snapcash lets friends instantly send each other money by simply entering a cash amount into the subject line of a chat and pressing send.

To use the service, a user registers their debit card for fund withdrawals and deposits. If the person you are sending money to has not yet signed up for the service they will have to do so before they can receive the money. If they do not sign up within 24 hours, the cash is simply returned to the sender’s account.

According to the blog post, card details are stored securely on Square’s servers and not Snapchat’s. The actual payment processing is done via a backend platform powered by Square. This is perhaps good news given Snapchat’s recent security problems.

“We set out to make payments faster and more fun, but we also know that security is essential when you’re dealing with money. Square has a ton of experience in this area and our teams have been hard at work to make Snapcash a great experience for everyone.”

Snapchat says payments are instant and as simple as “swipe into chat, type the dollar sign, an amount (e.g. $11.25), and hit the green button.”

The service is limited to users 18 years and older and is for now only available in the U.S.

For a look “behind the scenes” of Snapscash, take a look at Snapchat’s promotional video:

Image: screenshot via Snapchat

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