RBC marked a North American first by announcing a social, person-to-person (P2P) electronic money transfer capability for customers to send money to Facebook Messenger contacts, right from within the RBC Canada app. Working closely with Facebook, RBC enhanced its app to allow customers to send an Interac e-Transfer, a simple, convenient and secure way to send and receive money without sharing any personal or financial information, directly to their contacts on Facebook Messenger.
"We are excited to bring this new capability – the first of its kind in North America – to Canada and to our clients, who we know are avid Facebook users," said Dave McKay, group head, Personal and Commercial Banking, RBC Royal Bank. "An Interac e-Transfer is typically a result of a social interaction, such as paying your friend for concert tickets or dinner. Our social P2P solution provides our clients with the added simplicity, convenience and choice to bank in the manner in which they interact on a daily basis, with the security they expect from RBC."
Up until now, sending an Interac e-Transfer required the recipient's email address or a mobile phone number. Now, through the RBC Canada app, clients simply select a friend or family member from their Facebook Messenger friend list, transfer the funds and provide a message for the receiver. The receiver will receive a message in their Messenger inbox, and will be directed to log in to the Financial Institution of their choice to deposit the funds, just like with any Interac e-Transfer today. This new capability is seamlessly integrated into RBC's existing mobile app, providing clients with greater choice and convenience in how they bank and transact with RBC.
"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.
As part of RBC's continued commitment to support the well-being of kids and youth, starting today, RBC will donate $1 for every Interac e-Transfer messaged via Facebook in support of Kids Help Phone, up to $100,000.
This new capability is available now on iPad, with iPhone coming in February 2014 and other platforms later in the year. To download the RBC Canada app for iPads for free, visit the Apple store and download the app directly to your iPad.
Today's announcement is another step in keeping RBC at the forefront of mobile commerce. In July, RBC unveiled the RBC Secure Cloud (patent-pending) solution that allows clients to more safely and securely pay for purchases using their mobile devices, keeping sensitive client data secure with RBC in the cloud, not on the phone. The vision for RBC Secure Cloud is to work on all phones, with all carriers, all financial institutions, all card products, all merchants and include value-add solutions.
