PayPal just made sending money easier with a new Slack Bot. The popular online payments service launched a bot that allows users of the platform to make person-to-person (P2P) payments without ever leaving the app.
The add-on represents PayPal’s first incursion into the field of chatbots. The company had previously worked with Facebook, Microsoft, and Apple to integrate P2P payments with their products.
With the addition of this new bot, Slack and the recently launched Enterprise Grid for companies continue to be a great option for corporate communications. The Slack App Directory offers hundreds of bots that make work simpler.
Step 1: Install the Bot from the Slack App Directory
As obvious as it may seem, the first thing you need to do is download the PayPal Bot from the Slack App Directory.
Users can access the App Directory through their browser or desktop clients. There are hundreds of apps across some categories, but the PayPal bot should be available at the Bots section.
It is important to note that the bot will work only if the administrator installs it too. From there on, all the users in the team who want to make payments with PayPal just need to download and install it too.
Step 2: Link your account and tweak your settings
Once installed, the bot will ask you to “log into your PayPal account and confirm a few details” first.
Just enter your username and password and set up your transaction settings to what you prefer the most. The money transferring service notes you should take the chance and tweak when you want to review and approve payments and requests.
Step 3: Start paying with PayPal on Slack
After tweaking PayPal to match how you want to manage your money, you are all set. Just type a command, and the bot will do the rest.
With just five words, you can send money to others without leaving your work chat. “/PayPal send $10 to @username” will prompt the service to wire the amount.
Neither Slack nor PayPal have talked about the terms of delivery or fees. Presumably, the same regular payment standards apply to the bot.
That means “PayPal to PayPal” transfers are instant and free, but transactions involving money from the bank take 3 to 5 days to show up and the system charges a percentage plus a $0.30 fee.
The bot is available for free now on the Slack App Directory in the United States, the U.K., Australia, and Canada.
Source: PayPal