PayPal launched PayPal.Me, a new service enabling users to pay individuals or groups through a personalised URL which is the latest addition to a busy marketplace for P2P payments.

The PayPal link is personalised with a user’s name (for example, PayPal.Richard) and sent to individuals or groups who owe money to the user. The link can be sent via text, email, IM, social media post or the web. Recipients can access and click the link via mobile phone, tablet or PC. They then enter the amount required, hit send and the funds are dispatched back to the user.

“Today, we’re announcing for the first time you can name your money with PayPal.Me: your personal link to getting paid back,” said the company.

It is free to set up a PayPal.Me account but certain charges are attached to the service. For users with PayPal Business account – or if the user selects Friends & Family but the person sending money opts for PayPal Buyer Protection – the payment is a Goods and Services payment. That means the recipient is charged a standard PayPal fee (in the UK, this is 2.9 per cent plus £0.30). Fees can also vary depending from which country they are received.

Sending money to friends and family domestically is free when using PayPal, bank account or debit card. If a credit card is used to send money, the fee is 3.4 per cent plus £0.20 (in the UK). If a user sends money in currencies other than pounds, or overseas, to friends or family, fees also apply.

Square.me, Facebook Messenger, PayPal itself and Venmo (an app owned by PayPal) already inhabit the P2P payments market. Mobile World Live asked PayPal why another service is needed and we are waiting to hear back.

From today (1 September), PayPal.Me is available in 18 countries, predominately in Europe: Germany, UK, Turkey, France, Italy, Spain, Poland, Sweden, Belgium, Norway, Denmark, Netherlands, Switzerland and Austria, as well as the US, Australia, Canada and Russia.