NEW YORK –  Fortune magazine reported this week that payments giant MasterCard is the latest company to get into the person-to-person payments business, joining Facebook, PayPal and rival Visa. The company is launching a service that allows people to link their debit card accounts online or on a phone and transfer money to anyone in the U.S. using their MasterCard send account. Electronic peer-to-peer payments aim to replace paying people with cash or check.

The biggest difference between the MasterCard Send offer and its competitors is that it is not a direct-to-consumer offering. Rather, it is proposed as a way for businesses to reimburse their customers or offer rebates.

According to Fortune, Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection and FreeShipping.com are among two of the first businesses that have integrated the new system to transfer money for user claim disbursements and cash-back payouts, respectively.

The card giant is trying to ride the wave of growth in peer-to-peer payments, which Forrester Research expects to grow to $17 billion by 2019, from $5.2 billion in 2014. But according to Fortune, MasterCard is late to the game, and other early movers have already gained market share. Forrester notes that currently 73% of American adults who use the Internet and make P2P payments use PayPal.

But it’s important to note that consumers don’t want to be subject to the fees associated with these transactions, which are not a factor when paying with cash or check. MasterCard says that it is not charging a fee to consumers that are using service integrating MasterCard Send but these businesses could charge a fee directly to consumers if they choose.