More evidence has emerged of Facebook’s interest in launching a P2P mobile payment service via its Messenger app.

A Stanford University student has uncovered plans for the social network to send money via the Messenger’s iPhone app.

“With FB Messenger, you attach money just like you attach a photo or a location. You don’t even have to link a bank account”, tweeted Andrew Aude, next to a screenshoot and code from the app.

“Messenger has P2P payments coming @Squarecash style”, he added, in reference to a rival P2P payment service.

Mark Zuckerberg recently spoke about adding a payments capability to the messaging app.

“The payments piece will be a part of what will help drive the overall success and help people share with each other and interact with businesses,” he said on an earnings call at the end of July.

But it won’t happen overnight. Zuckerberg spoke of “multiple years” in order to get those interactions right.

And the latest evidence does not indicate when a payments service might launch.

But Facebook has certainly laid the groundwork, not least with the hiring in June of PayPal president David Marcus, who is highly rated in the payments world, to head up its messaging business.