Storing, sending, and receiving money has been simplified to an incredible degree in our current digital age. For example, it’s now far easier to use an online banking app than to walk into a bank to conduct your business. However, what if you want an added layer of security or prefer to deal specifically in cash or use a preloaded credit card? There are multiple apps that let you store your money, digitally send it to others, and receive some money from them through the app. Cash App is one of the most prominent of these apps. Please continue reading to learn about Cash App, its history, how it works, and how it differs from its competitors!
What Is Cash App?
Cash App is a mobile phone application. It’s a mobile payment service application where you can send, receive, and store money with ease. As well as this, you can create a bank account on Cash App and receive a debit card from them. There are also options to borrow money, invest in stocks, and purchase cryptocurrency.
What is the History of Cash App?
Square, Inc. (now Block) created Cash App, a company specializing in financial services and products. Their first primary product was the Square Reader, which accepts credit card payments when directly connected to a phone. The official launch of Cash App on iOS devices and android devices was on October 15th, 2013. However, when Block launched it, it was initially titled ‘Square Cash.’ It was initially just intended for personal use, but in 2015, it was introduced for businesses to use as well.
Around the same time, Square, inc. created the $cashtag, which identifies individual accounts to make sending and receiving money through Cash App easier.
Throughout the next six years, Square added many new features and innovations to Cash App. Some of these include:
- Adding the ability to trade in Bitcoin in 2018. There are no other cryptocurrencies on Cash App as of 2021;
- Adding the ability to buy and sell stocks in 2019. This feature is currently only available in the United States;
- Acquiring the Credit Karma Tax software for a considerable sum of $50 million in 2020 and integrating it into Cash App. Credit Karma Tax is a tax filing service built as a do-it-yourself service. It’s completely free and remains so as a part of Cash App.
- Introducing a money borrowing function in 2020, but only as a limited function;
- Allowing users between the ages of 13 and 17 to use Cash App in November 2021. The age limit before this was 18. These younger users need parent authorization for the account. They also don’t have access to the stock and cryptocurrency features until they are 18.
How Does Cash App Work?
The primary function of Cash App is to receive and send money. However, before you do this, you’ll either need to link your bank account to the app or set up a Cash App account to store your cash in. If you set up a Cash App account, you can acquire a Cash App debit card to spend your accumulated funds and withdraw them from ATMs.
Does Cash App Have an Automatic Payment Feature?
You can set up automatic payments on Cash App as you would through online banking. In addition, you can set a specific date for payment and the amount you want to pay.
You can use the automatic payment feature to pay monthly subscriptions, loan payments, and installments on more significant purchases such as a car. The app also send you push notifications when a payment has gone through.
Who are the Competitors to Cash App?
When it comes to the specific function of sending money in the United States, Cash App competes with Apple Pay, Venmo, Zelle, PayPal and the internal payment services offered by financial institutions. Like most of its competitors, sending money to other users is free, but does not happen instantly. If you want to have your funds deposited to your bank instantly, then the app will charge you 1.5% of your deposit – this is approximately the same amount Venmo and Apple Pay charge. The exception is Zelle – not only do users of Zelle by default have the money they send or receive instantly available in their bank accounts, but it doesn’t come at any cost as Zelle is completely free. Not surprisingly there are now over a thousand banks that use Zelle including most of the big banks in the United States. However, when it comes to credit union adoption, it’s a different story as thus far less than 10% of credit unions have adopted the service. Therefore, consumers should find out before joining a credit union, what credit unions use Zelle if instant and free money transfers are important to them, because the adoption rate remains quite low. Compared to Apple Pay and Venmo, Cash App offers more or less the same functions at a similar price, with the added benefit of many additional features.
Is Cash App Safe?
Square, Inc. has taken measures to make sure the safety and security of Cash App are very high. They use high-quality encryption software, as well as built-in technology to detect fraud. In addition, Cash App makes sure that it is secure by storing all of your financial and personal information on a secure server.
Do You Need A Bank Account To Use Cash App?
Although Cash App will ask you for your bank account details when you first open the app, you don’t necessarily need one to use Cash App. You can set up an account on Cash App and use that as a bank account. You can also take out a Cash App debit card to use for spending and withdrawing money.
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