Best Payment Apps for Personal and Professional Use
Choosing the right payment apps for personal and professional use can be daunting when faced with so many options, of similar-seeming purpose. Here are a few suggestions for the best apps for payment, by category. Whether you seek a convenient way to pay back friends for dinner or need a hassle-free way to send money overseas, one of these six payment apps will have you covered.
When considering payment apps to use for smaller, cash transactions, both Venmo and Square Cash provide apps with features intended for everyday use. Venmo often appears in more personal transactions rather than as a tool for work payments. After linking a bank account, Venmo lets users create accounts and send and receive cash from other users. Like social media, Venmo also allows you to add other users as “friends,” which makes future payments easier and helps you know you’re sending money to the right person. Unlike other payment apps, Venmo requires a bank account and has no credit card functionality.
On the professional side of small transactions, Square Cash is another no-frills sending and receiving payment app. The Square Cash app can work in tandem with the Square card swipes used by small businesses like coffee shops and hair stylists. Other than its hardware counterpoint, the Square Cash works much the same as Venmo, but does allow you to link a credit card as well as a bank account. Square Cash caps transaction amounts at $250, which makes it helpful for modest transfers each day, but unsuitable for any large payments.
Even though a main benefit of payment within an app lies within the ability to complete orders electronically, most of us still need a way to pay in brick and mortar stores. An early mover of the virtual wallet, Apple still leads this area with Apple Pay representing about 9 out of 10 contactless transactions in stores. For consumers looking to leave their plastic at home, Apple Pay allows a user to link 12 different cards to an account, a feature that helps with convenience as much as security. While Apple Pay claims the leading number of in-store virtual payments, the payment app provides inclusive features that stretch across the many different payment types you encounter, from online shopping to transferring cash across cards.
Not in the iOS sphere? Google Pay now offers a similar experience to Apple. Just like Apple Pay, Google Pay allows you to complete both physical and virtual transactions. Google Pay additionally emphasizes its high level of security, ensuring that your payments meet their intended recipients without compromising your data. Encrypted numbers rather than your card number accomplish the added security of Google Pay. Also, Google Pay offers the in-app payment experience as well as an online version, an addition helpful for shoppers already at the purchase point of an online store. Google Pay is available for both Android and iOS devices.
Whether you need to send money abroad for business or personal reasons, certain payment apps perform better than others when dealing with international transfers. PayPal and its offshoot, Xoom, offer straightforward options for payments outside the US. Driving the world of online payments for more than two decades, PayPal allows users to send and receive cash transfers from more than 200 countries outside the US, for moderate, graduated fees. Likewise, PayPal is an ideal option for international purposes as users can flip between currencies and use more than just US dollars. The one catch: both the sender and receiver must have a PayPal account.
Xoom, a PayPal service, lets users skip the account and still send and receive money internationally. Xoom relies on a more case-based fee system that depends on the type of payment source (like a credit card or a bank account) as well as the country. With this setup, certain international transactions – especially when using a credit card – can require high fees, while others are free. The mobile and online app includes convenience features like Quick Send that remembers recent recipients and ways to track your transfers. Unlike PayPal, Xoom allows transfers only between the US and 66 other nations.
If you want to learn more about payment apps or you want advice about integrating payment in your own app, reach out to us today.