Transforming financial transactions to social interactions Payfriendz improves the way users deal with money matters among friends and challenges existing financial apps.

Payfriendz will officially launch during the Berlin Tech Open Air and be available for Android and iOS Europe-wide as of July 21st 2014.

In the wake of Shareconomy and Bitcoin there've been a spate of new financial P2P technologies, but none of which have upped the social user experience like this. The aim is to make money matters work in the way people behave today - making it easy, enjoyable and fun rather than time-consuming and awkward. By adding a social component Payfriendz uniquely reflects that a financial transaction is also an emotional interaction. Through the intuitive design, money can be sent swiftly and easily to contacts, as if it were a chat message, with the added benefit of free transfers, and a miniscule 1% fee for cross-currency transactions.

"I was intrigued why money matters tend to be such a hassle, especially among friends. The idea is to share money and good times with those close to you. When we share expenses, we share experiences and moments." explains Volker Breuer (Cofounder and CEO Payfriendz). "Also I believe associating payments purely with banks is a misconception and that they are not particularly interested in providing fast and cost-effective payments. They are more driven by commercial interests like loans. At Payfriendz we care about transferring money and making the multifaceted lives of consumers easier. During the next two to three years we'll focus on expanding the user base."

How it works

To register, all a user needs is a smartphone and a cell phone number. Money is sent exclusively from one Payfriendz account to the other without users having to swap bank account data anymore - turning banking into social peer-to-peer transactions. The integrated messenger function makes transferring money easier and more perssonal than ever, and far more direct. A restaurant tab or cab bill shared among several friends, organizing a group gift for a colleague, all of that can now be cashless and doesn't require an ATM being at hand.

Users may also simply and safely use their Payfriendz balance when shopping online thanks to the virtual Payment Card in cooperation with MasterCard that is available within the app (e.g. to pay at Amazon, Net-A-Porter, etc).

The Advantages at a glance

● Real-time transactions that are free-of-charge
● Intuitive GUI and discerning design
● Registration by mobile phone number and smartphone
● Messenger function with Emoticons
● International transactions in Euro, GBP and USD with real-time currency conversion with a low fee (1%)
● Optional virtual MasterCard for online purchases
● Safe and secure to finance industry standards