Financial friend?

Facebook wants to help connect you with money in addition to keeping you in touch with your family and friends.

The company began rolling out Facebook Pay in the U.S. this month. It will let people buy merchandise, donate to charities and transfer money to other people through Facebook’s various services, starting with the main social network and Messenger. Payments are processed through most major credit and debit cards, as well as PayPal.

Facebook joins Apple, Google and others in turning to payment services to help boost revenue. Google and Facebook can make more money if their financial services foster more use of other products, which show ads. Apple makes money from the transaction fees embedded in its Apple Pay payment service and a new credit card.

Facebook also is trying to create an entirely new currency called Libra, though it has had pushback from some regulators and potential financial partners. Facebook Pay has nothing to do with that; rather it uses existing currencies to make payments.