Pygg, an Australian service that enables users to transfer money to each other through Twitter, has launched.
Australian bank account holders can create Pygg (pronounced pig) accounts that are topped up using credit cards or PayPal.
They can then make small payments to other Pygg account holders through Twitter by including the @pygg handle, the username of the recipient and the amount to be transferred in tweets.
If the recipient doesn't have a Pygg account, the firm will create a pending transaction and invite them to join. It is free to transfer money but Pygg charges A$2.50 every time a user tops up their account.
As well as making payments directly through Twitter, customers can download a mobile-friendly Web app. This offers additional functionality like the ability to withdraw money from Pygg accounts, and information such as transaction timelines.
The firm - set up by Pollenizer, an Australian start-up creation company, and founding investors Rohan Lund and Tim Howard - is planning to move beyond Twitter to e-mail and Facebook soon.
Says Howard: "we live in an increasingly cashless community and yet cash remains the dominant way to settle transactions between friends and family, preferred to existing cumbersome electronic alternatives. Disruption will come by simplifying transactions and providing a network for managing money in a social context."