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Send and receive money from your phone with a linked debit card.
If you’re looking for a way to send or receive money without fees, you might need only your phone to get started. Developed by Square, Cash App sets itself apart from peer-to-peer payment services with the ability to receive direct deposit payments to your bank account and to buy and sell Bitcoin. But it’s not up front about fees, and you’re limited to domestic payments.
Kelly Waggoner is the US editor-in-chief at Finder. She's worked with publishers, magazines and nonprofits throughout New York City, including ghostwriting a how-to on copyediting for the Dummies series. Between projects, she toys with words, flips through style guides and fantasizes about the serial comma's world domination.
What is Cash App?
Cash App is a mobile app backed by digital payment company Square that allows you to send and receive money through your bank account using your debit card.
Your Cash App account comes with a Visa debit card — called a Cash Card — that you can use to pay for goods and services in the US from your Cash App balance without involving your bank account or personal credit card.
How does Cash App work?
You download Cash App and enter your mobile number or email and create a unique username the app calls a $Cashtag. You then link your bank account or debit card information.
How do I send money?
Enter the amount you want to send and tap Pay. You can import your contacts and send money to anyone with an email address, a mobile phone number or a $Cashtag. Provide reason for the payment, and tap Pay again.
Can I cancel my payment?
Not for most transactions. Cash App may allow you to cancel a payment for security breaches or fraud, but you’ll need to contact support to learn how.
How do I receive money?
You’re notified either by email or text when you’ve received a payment. Open the app and tap the clock icon from the home screen to see it.
Can I refund a payment?
Yes. Tap the payment you want to refund, select Refund and tap OK.
Are there limits for sending and receiving money?
Yes. New accounts are limited to:
Sending up to $250 within any seven-day period.
Receiving up to $1,000 within any 30-day period.
You must verify your identity to increase your transaction limits. You must be at least 18 years old to become verified with your full name, date of birth and the last four digits of your SSN. If Cash App can’t verify your ID, it might require additional information.
Once verified, your limits increase to:
$2,500 a week for sending payments.
No limit on the amount you can receive.
Cash App allows for business accounts with the ability to receive — but not send — payments.
Cash App’s site doesn’t make it easy to see all fees in one spot. Rather, it spreads out fee disclosures across multiple themed pages: ATMs, Bitcoin and cashouts, for example.
It’s free to send money to your Cash App balance from a bank account, though it appears you’ll need to use your bank debit card to do so.
If you don’t want to wait up to three days for your transfer to hit your bank account, you can pay a fee equal to 1.5% of your transaction for an instant deposit.
Cash App’s site says that you can use your Cash Card debit card to withdraw money from your balance at an ATM without a fee. Otherwise, it’s not up front about what you’ll pay for transactions to and from your Cash App account.
Pros and cons
Cash App may be a way to send and receive payments outside of your bank account, especially after you’ve established your Cash App balance. But weigh transactions on the go against potential drawbacks.
Pros
Send money to friends with a phone number or email.
Buy and sell Bitcoin directly from your Cash App balance.
Security features include a PIN login, face and fingerprint ID, encryption and offline Bitcoin storage.
Cons
Limited transparency when it comes to other transactions using the app.
You must pay a 1.5% fee to get money cashed out instantly.
You can’t make payments internationally.
You must verify your account to increase your send and receiving limits.
Cash App regulation, reviews and complaints
Cash App hasn’t garnered a good reputation on Trustpilot: It earns one star out of five from more than 700 users. Most complaints revolve around poor customer support, closed accounts without warning or without providing a reason. Some users claim they never received their payments.
Forums like Reddit reveal similar issues. Recent complaints include lacking customer support, declined transactions with limited details and sudden closures of Cash App accounts — one while waiting for a Bitcoin transaction.
Bottom line
If you’re looking for a simple peer-to-peer payment app with no debit card fees, Cash App is worth considering. But with opaque fees, a focus on Bitcoin and multiple customer complaints, you may want to compare top P2P payment apps first.
And if you need to send money for business, rather than to friends and family, you’ll want to compare other Square products.
Frequently asked questions
You can retrieve your money without it. After you receive a text or an email from the app, you’re asked to enter a bank account or debit card information to receive your deposit.
It depends on the option you choose for delivery:
Standard. Up to three business days.
Instant. Nearly immediately with a fee equal to 1.5% of your transaction.
Tap the profile icon from the Cash App homescreen
Tap Personal
Tap the phone number or email you want to change
Tap Add Phone or Email to enter a new email or number.
Your account can be linked to multiple emails and phone numbers at once.
Yes. Snapchat’s payment system, Snapcash, is also powered by Square. Add your debit card information to your Snapchat, open a private message to a friend, type in a dollar amount and Snapchat recognizes that you’re trying to send or request money. The rest of the process works like Cash App’s.
Cash App earns revenue from transaction fees, like the 1.5% fee for an instant deposit. Unfortunately, fees aren’t easy to find on its site.
Compare other services that send money within the US
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Thanks for contacting Finder. I hope you are well.
Your Cash App account comes with a Visa debit card — called a Cash Card — that you can use to pay for goods and services in the US from your Cash App balance without involving your bank account or personal credit card. Your Cash Card may be used to make purchases with a merchant using any available amounts in your Cash App Balance. Upon activating the Service, you instruct Square to use the available funds in your Cash App Balance to load your Cash Card for making purchases with your Cash Card and to transfer the funds from your Cash App Balance to your Cash Card upon receipt of funds into your Cash App Balance.
Hope this helps and feel free to reach out to us again for further assistance.
Thanks for your comment and I hope you are doing well.
One wat to add cash to your Cash App balance is to do a direct deposit. Please see the steps below:
1. Tap the Balance tab on your Cash App home screen.
2. Press Add Cash.
3. Choose an amount.
4. Tap Add.
5. Use Touch ID or enter your PIN to confirm.
You can use Walmart to deposit into Cash App and add anywhere from $20 to $1100 at one time. Simply visit a Walmart store and they’d be able to help you out on the transaction.
Hope this helps and feel free to reach out to us again for further assistance.
Cash App transactions usually take 2-3 business days for it to process. If you don’t want to wait up to three days for your transfer to hit your bank account, you can pay a fee equal to 1.5% of your transaction for an instant deposit.
if I set up a payment to come from my cash app acct if the money isn’t on my cash app card does the payment then transfer to my regular bank acct if I only have my cash app card in the system with that particular business?
Thanks for your comment and I hope you are well. You are absolutely able to set up direct deposits using Cash App.
To get started with Direct Deposit:
1. Open your Cash App:
2. Tap the Balance tab
3. Select Cash
4. Scroll down to Direct Deposit and tap Enable Direct Deposit
4. Review and accept the terms of service
5. Follow the prompts
Once you’ve enabled your account, you can provide your account and routing number to your employer and have your paychecks sent directly to your Cash App!
Hope this helps and feel free to reach out to us again for further assistance.
Thanks for getting in touch! No, a sender cannot gain access to your bank info unless he/she has your login details which should always be kept secure. Hope this helps and feel free to reach out to us again for further assistance.
Thanks for reaching out to us. The verification process for Cash App will require you to confirm your identity by submitting information such as your full name, date of birth, and the last 4 digits of your SSN when prompted. If your account still can not be verified using this information, Cash App may request additional proof of your identity such as submitting a photo of your driver’s license. This process usually takes 2-3 days but can take as long as a week sometimes.
If you have a Cash Card, you can use is to spend the money you have received directly from your Cash account balance. You will not need a bank account to access your fund this way.
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