PayPal has unveiled the Money Pool a new group-based payment and funding platform. This service is now available to people residing in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland, as long as they have a personal PayPal account. The company envisions its new platform to be used for sharing costs between multiple individuals when planning trips or purchasing gifts and for funding charitable causes and special occasions. People who will use this feature has an option to personalize the Money Pool page with pictures and other content and the user may choose to either make contributions public or private and share their stories on the Money Pool page. Another functionality that is included with the Moneypool platform is the ability to share the campaign through social media using a short URL.
One of the key advantages of using Money Pool, PayPal claims, is the security that the firm offers to people who contribute to a fund since all financial information of the individual is encrypted, and all steps of the transaction are guarded and monitored by the company. The firm will not collect any fees when an individual starts a Money Pool page or when people send money from their PayPal balance, debit cards, or bank account. However, fees may be charged if the user chips in from their credit card and if the contribution needs to undergo currency conversion.
In order to create a Money Pool, people will have to look for the Pools module located on the account’s summary page. After seeing the module, users should click on the “Create a pool” option and follow the instructions that will then appear. After creating the pool, people can access its details on the summary page on both the website and on mobile devices through the Paypal app. People who will create the Money Pool may choose to set a minimum amount of money that friends and family should contribute and the money collected can be withdrawn and transferred to the linked bank account. Right now, users with business accounts cannot use this feature, and people in other countries will have to wait until PayPal rolls out the service to their areas.