In June, Facebook said it was beginning to roll out a new way to use Facebook Messenger – a way to sign up with a phone number and only a phone number.

Today, it goes global. As of now, everyone in the world can use Facebook Messenger without a Facebook account.

Messenger’s David Marcus made the announcement today.

“Excited to announce that the ability for everyone to use Messenger, even without a Facebook account, is now available globally. Sign up with your phone number and try it out!”

Facebook doesn’t want you to ditch Facebook and go Messenger-only, as the company touts the benefits of logging in through a Facebook account:

“For those who have Facebook accounts, there are many benefits to using your Facebook credentials when signing up for Messenger. People can easily message with their Facebook friends and contacts, access their Facebook messages and take advantage of multi-device messaging across mobile devices, the web and tablets.”

But Facebook’s bigger goal with Messenger is to make it its own platform, and letting anyone sign up – regardless of whether or not they use Facebook – is surely a great way to make the service more popular.

Since unbundling Messenger from the main Facebook app last April, Facebook has been hard at work turning Messenger into something way more than a texting app.

The company turned it into a developer platform, allowing appmakers to build directly for the platform. Facebook is also trying to turn Messenger into a platform to connect businesses with their customers – for the purposes of customer service, order tracking, and more.

A few months ago, Facebook gave Messenger its own web version. More recently, Facebook has allowed games to be played inside the platform. P2P payments just went live for all users in the US.

Earlier this week, reports said that Facebook is looking to put a human-powered personal assistant inside Messenger.