Snapchat Update November 2014: From Text-Vanishing App To Money-Sender

Are you using Snapchat, that smartphone app that makes texts, photos and videos disappear seconds after they are viewed?

If yes, you may be interested to know that the mobile messaging company has launched a new service that lets you send, or receive, money, in partnership with the online payments company Square.

Oh yes, just like the text messages and photos you send, the money will also most certainly "disappear" in Snapchat – that is after it has been deposited in the bank account of your intended recipient.

Snapchat calls its new service Snapcash. This is how it works: First, create a free Snapchat account in your Android or iPhone device and then enter your debit card number into your Snapchat page. If you want to send money to a friend, you just enter the amount you want to send beginning with a dollar sign. After entering the recipient's bank account number, simply press "send" and your money will be deposited promptly to your friend's bank account.

At present, the service is only available in the U.S. for users age 18 and above.

If you're squeamish about sharing your sensitive bank information to Snapchat, no worries: the data you share and the processing of the payments will be handled by Square, a well established payments service provider.

"We set out to make payments faster and more fun, but we also know that security is essential when you're dealing with money," Snapchat said in the post.

Snapchat is just one of several companies engaged in the peer-to-peer payments business. Also providing the same service are eBay, which owns PayPal and Venmo, and Google, which added a payment feature to Gmail earlier this year. Facebook is also planning to venture into this business.

It is not clear whether Snapchat will charge users for its Snapcash service. Square has its own money-sending service called Square Cash which it launched about a year ago. Square Cash is like a digital wallet and is free to use.