It's getting easier than ever to send money to friends. Or, even better, to receive money from friends. And now, thanks to Skype and PayPal teaming up together, you can now send and receive money in the middle of a Skype conversation without having to switch apps or open your browser.

Microsoft recently gave Skype a makeover to help it appeal to the next generation of internet users. This just ended up annoying existing users, who really don't like the Snapchatification of Skype. However, that hasn't stopped Microsoft from forging ahead with new features.

Send Money Using Skype and PayPal

The latest feature Microsoft has added to Skype is Send Money, which enables you to, yep, you guessed it, send money. This is powered by PayPal, so in order to use Skype's new Send Money feature you'll need to either have an existing PayPal account or create one from scratch.

Once you have a PayPal account it's really easy (possibly too easy) to send money to someone you're chatting with on Skype. That is as long as you're in one of the 22 countries currently supported (the U.S., Canada, the UK, and any country in the Eurozone except Monaco and Vatican City.

How to send money to someone using Skype:

  1. During a Skype conversation, tap Find or swipe to the right.
  2. Select Send Money from the list of add-ins.
  3. Select the countries you and your friend live in and tap Next.
  4. Enter the amount you'd like to send and tap Next.
  5. Tap Send to complete the transfer of funds.

It should be noted that depending on the method of payment, the currency being transferred, and whether you're sending money to another country your transfer may incur PayPal fees. So we advise you to read up on PayPal's transaction fees before you start using Skype's Send Money feature.

To use the Send Money feature you'll need the latest version of the Skype mobile app on Android or iOS.

Send Money Without Skipping a Beat

There are multiple ways of sending money to friends these days. So Skype's PayPal integration isn't exactly unique. However, it does offer existing PayPal users an easy way of sending money without missing a beat. Now, I just need to find someone willing and able to send me some money.

Do you regularly use Skype? Do you have a PayPal account? Do you ever send money to friends? If so, will you be making use of the new Send Money feature in Skype? What do you think of the new Skype? What do you think of PayPal? The comments are open below...

Image Credit: Torbakhopper via Flickr