PayPal has introduced a new Facebook app for sending money. The app is designed to allow uses to use PayPal to send money to anyone starting from Facebook. Users only need the person's email address.

PayPal Director of Product Marketing Heinz Waelchli explains how it works:

Visit our send money application page and click on the "Get Started" button to install the application. Next just fill in the fields in the form and click the "Continue to PayPal" button. You’ll be taken to the PayPal site to log-in (if you don’t already have an account, you can create a new account in minutes). You’ll then choose your method of payment, if you use your PayPal balance or bank account to send money to friends and family within the U.S., it’s free. You can enter a personal message to your recipient if you like. Finally, click on the "send" button and that's it! Your recipient will be notified by email right away. The receiver can then log-in to PayPal to claim the money or quickly sign up for a new account.

It's probably a good idea on PayPal's part to have a Facebook app in place before any really significant Facebook e-commerce system takes over. Last month PayPal opened up its global payments platform called PayPal X, which provides APIs and a developer portal. This is likely an important move for keeping PayPal relevant in the social eye as well.

On another PayPal-Facebook-realted note, PayPal is in the middle of its second annual " Regift the Fruitcake " campaign, an event, which calls upon people to create virtual fruitcakes and give them to their Facebook friends to raise money for 25 different charities. You can read more about that here.
 

Related Articles:

> PayPal to Take Over Mobile and Social Apps

> Facebook Meets Google Checkout

> The Dawn of Real Facebook eCommerce