Signal’s latest beta release rolling out on Tuesday brings support for privacy-focused payments network, MobileCoin (MOB), which will allow Android users to send and receive money on the app.
The payments feature is currently being tested in UK and will be expanded to other countries based on the feedback.
The latest update also enhances the app’s overall performance, fixes bugs, and brings improvements to the mute settings.
Signal won’t have access to the user’s balance and full transaction history. Users can also switch to another app or service by transferring the funds at any time.
“We want payments in Signal to be fast, private, and work well on mobile devices. The first payments protocol we’ve added support for is a privacy-focused payments network called MobileCoin, which has its own currency, MOB,” said Jun Harada, head of growth and communication at Signal, in the announcement.
Anyone in the UK looking to test the feature can use FTX to convert to and from MOB. Users can also learn more about Signal Messenger’s beta program here.
“Signal Payments makes it easy to link a MobileCoin wallet to Signal so you can start sending funds to friends and family, receive funds from them, keep track of your balance, and review your transaction history with a simple interface.”
While payment support isn’t new to messaging apps as Whatsapp has led the way, Signal is undoubtedly leading the charge of privacy-focused payments. With Whatsapp facing backlash for the changes in its privacy policy, Signal seems to have bounced up on the popularity charts and added a slew of new features to keep the privacy enthusiasts from going back to the old ways.
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