Watching movies, updating yourself with the current happenings, shopping, all from your home! Even if you are not at home, you can do all this when on the go!
Who would have thought that there will come a day when you will buy groceries without actually visiting the superstore. And you would be able to catch up on the half-left episode of Peaky Blinders on your way to your college! Above all, who would have thought that mobile payments would become a reality!
Making payments through mobile apps seem like a new favorite hobby of many.
So, today’s blog will introduce you to the five most frequently used ones.
PayPal
If there’s any company that you can call the ‘granddaddy’ of payment companies, it’s PayPal. This company started its operations back in 1998. And it has come a long way since then. It started as a preferred digital wallet for eBay. However, now it is not restricted to transactions involving eBay only. The company has grown up to be one of the most dominant names when it comes to online payments. Majority of the people, if not all, are familiar with the name PayPal. So, if you did not know about the operation of PayPal, it lets you transfer money to and from the States. You can do so using any U.S. based account apart from other foreign accounts that are on the list. You are not entitled to pay any fee if you are transferring money from a PayPal or a bank account balance. However, you have to pay a fee if you are transferring funds using a credit card.
Venmo
Owned by PayPal, Venmo helps you transfer money to your friends but primarily for social aspects. Hence, making it operations a bit different than that of PayPal. The app is designed to aid the smartphone users who can transfer money on the go. You can choose to access your account through the web as well. But basically, it is a mobile-first experience app. It is basically more popular with young people in big cities. And most of the times the young ones will use it to reimburse their friend who paid on their behalf in a restaurant. Because they want to save themselves the hassle of splitting the check. However, it is also used for other purposes like paying for shared roommate expenses.
Apple Pay
If you are an Apple user, then the iOS integrates with Apple Pay. It allows you to store your debit cards, coupons, credit cards, and online passes. All you have to do is add a card to Apple Pay and then use it to make payments at millions of retail outlets while you travel internationally. Just tap and pay. It’s that easy. And the best part is that Apple offers Apple Pay Cash as a part of this service as well. This is a way for you to store money in your phone in the form of a virtual card. You can use this service in two ways. Either make a payment through the app when you shop in stores or use it over iMessage to send or receive money. You can also find Samsung mobile price through this app.
Square Cash
This is another app that allows you to make peer-to-peer payments. It operates in a similar way to Venmo. However, it does not cater to the social aspect of Venmo. You can receive payment or send money to anyone who has a Square Cash account. The funds are then drawn from a linked bank account without charging you any fee. It also has a feature similar to PayPal that allows you to transfer funds without having funds in your digital wallet.
Zelle
Zelle offers you a unique way in which you can pay your family members or friends from your bank. If you and the sender or receiver have accounts in participating banks, then you can transfer funds to each other on the same day. Some of the participating banks include Bank of America and Citi Bank. You do not even need to install the app for these transfers. And it is free to send and receive money.
Apart from offering a convenient way to transfer funds, some of these apps have very good customer service as well. I have always been reluctant to opt for customer service due to some bad experiences in the past. Now I’m always comparing other company’ representatives and being extremely disappointed. However, I used PayPal and Apple Pay and found their customer service reps to be quite efficient.