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How Does Popmoney Work?
Setting Popmoney Up
To set up Popmoney, you have to sign up at your bank’s website or at Popmoney’s site. Popmoney’s personal payment service goes directly from bank account to bank account, but it doesn’t work with every bank. Check with your bank before signing up for Popmoney.
Sending Money on Popmoney
Popmoney charges a flat $0.95 per transaction. To send money, you can either go to Popmoney’s website or download their app to your phone. Then, enter the email address or phone number of whomever you’re sending money to – they don’t need to have a Popmoney account. They’ll get notified to deposit their money, enter their bank account information and the money will be directly transferred there.
Requesting Money on Popmoney
Requesting money works a lot like sending money. From your Popmoney account, enter the email address of phone number of whomever you’re sending money to, they’ll enter their debit card information and the money will go directly into your account.
Is Popmoney safe?
Popmoney has not suffered any outright security breaches, however information regarding the specifics of their security systems are sparse. Apart from verifying the account using SMS or email verification codes, Popmoney tends to skirt questions regarding how they protect user information. While most money transfer services assure their users their information is encrypted, Popmoney does not mention it anywhere.
Popmoney is also particularly susceptible to scams – you may receive texts or emails from your “friends” requesting money and payment information. If Popmoney doesn’t encrypt information, hackers can easily access who you’ve sent money to and create fake, but misleaading email accounts in their names. Plus, Popmoney doesn’t provide buyer protection like some other money transfer services (such as Venmo) do.
Pros:
It’s easy to use! Especially for those who are not particularly smartphone savvy (or don’t have a smartphone at all), you can easily manage all of your transactions on a computer.
The people you send the money to don’t need to have a Popmoney account – just a bank account and an email or phone number.
Money moves directly from bank account to bank account. Unlike services like Venmo, there is no middle account to transfer money in or out of.
Cons:
As with PayPal, sending money through any email service is susceptible to scams. That’s one of the reasons why choosing a trustworthy source, like Popmoney is so important.
They charge a flat $0.95 fee per transaction.
It can take awhile. Transferring from bank to bank can take several business days.
You can’t transfer money internationally. If this is what you’re after, check out our guide on sending money overseas for more options.
Compare Popmoney to other providers
Our table lets you compare the services you can use to send money abroad. Compare services on transfer speeds and fees, then click Go to site when you're ready to send.
We update our data regularly, but information can change between updates. Confirm details with the provider you're interested in before making a decision.
