Facebook deepened its relationship with PayPal by teaming with the payments giant to enable person-to-person (P2P) money transfers on its Messenger platform.

The move comes after the two companies partnered in 2016 to provide a range of features on Facebook Messenger, including the option of using PayPal as a payment method on the app. The latest push into P2P payments means Facebook Messenger users can now send, request and receive money from their PayPal accounts.

PayPal users will also have access to a chatbot in Messenger to handle account administration, as well as access to a form of customer service if they experience any issues in making payments on the platform. The service is initially only available to users in the US.

The push comes amid increasing competition in the P2P space. Apple said earlier this year it was expanding into the sector through iMessage (though it recently postponed the launch), while a group of US banks also unveiled plans for their own P2P payments service Zelle.

Of course, PayPal already offers its own P2P mobile application, Venmo, which it also expanded this week.

The company said millions of merchants in the US will now accept Venmo as a payment option.