"French Bank to Allow Sending Money With Tweets"

From the New York Times' Bits blog:

LONDON — Do people want to use Twitter to transfer money? A French bank is about to find out.

Groupe BPCE, one of the country’s largest banks, will introduce a service on Tuesday that allows individuals to send money with just a few clicks on the social network.

The product, which will be available only to people with French bank accounts and cellphone numbers, will link individuals’ Twitter accounts to BPCE’s existing money transfer service.

As part of the service, called S-Money, people will be able to transfer up to 500 euros, about $635, through their Twitter accounts in the latest sign of how technology is seeping into the world of banking.

‘‘The service is instantaneous,’’ said Nicolas Chatillon, the head of the BPCE unit that is overseeing the project. He first approached Twitter with the money transfer idea over the summer. ‘‘We are pioneers,’’ he said. ‘‘We’re trying to make life easier for Twitter users.’’

The American tech giant, which is testing a ‘‘buy’’ button that can be embedded in posts that allow users to buy products through their smartphones or computers, did not directly partner with BPCE on the money transfer service.

Instead, Twitter allowed the French bank to incorporate its social network into the company’s own money transfer service.

To send money, users must post on Twitter with the money service’s username, the Twitter handle of the person who will receive the money, the amount that will be sent and the hashtag ‘‘envoyer,’’ for “send” in French. The Twitter messages then automatically directs users to BPCE’s money transfer product to complete the transaction....MORE