Square Cash: An overview and guide

Started in 2013, Square Cash makes sending money easy, fast and simple.

We’ve all had uncomfortable encounters when it comes to sending or receiving money. The check comes for dinner and no one has exact change to split the bill evenly. You split a taxi with a friend and want to repay them before you forget. Digital payment methods like Square Cash help ease those awkward moments.

With its sleek and straightforward design, Square Cash focuses on the brass tacks of transferring money. Its ‘feed’ is a simple history of previous transactions and your profile. It’s set apart from many other payment apps because you don’t need the app to send or receive money.

How do I send and request money on Square Cash?

1. While you don’t need the Square Cash application to receive or send money, you will need to download it to request money.

2. Once you’ve downloaded Square Cash, you’ll enter your mobile number or email and create a $Cashtag, which will serve as your username for the app. You’ll also enter your debit card information. Once you have your debit card linked, you can also add a credit card to your account.

3. You can then import your contacts and send or request money to anyone with an email address or mobile phone number. They’ll receive your request or transaction via text message or email, and be asked to enter their debit card information. If they already have a Square Cash account, they won’t need to re-enter this information.

What happens when someone sends me money on Square Cash?

If you don’t have the app, you’ll either receive a text message or an email from the app. You’ll be asked to enter a bank account or debit card information so your money can be deposited.

If you do have the app, you can either cash out and deposit the money into your linked bank account, or keep it in the app for future transactions. If you would like, you can set your preferences so that the money you’re sent automatically goes into your bank account.

How much does Square Cash cost?

Square Cash fees for sending and receiving money	Square Cash processing fees for merchants
Free to send money from your bank account	2.75% for each swiped transaction
Free to receive money	3.15% plus $0.15 for each manually-keyed transaction
1% fee for instant withdrawals	2.5% plus $0.10 for each transaction using the Square Register
3% fee, paid by sender, for payments from a credit card	2.9% plus $0.30 for invoices, Square eCommerce API payments and Square Online Store transactions

Are Square Cash and Snapchat linked?

Yes. Launched in 2014, Snapchat’s payment system, Snapcash, is also powered by Square. Once you add your debit card information to your Snapchat, you can open up a private message to a friend, type in a dollar amount, and Snapchat recognizes that you’re trying to send or request money. The “Send” button will turn say “Add Cash” instead, and you’re good to go. The rest of the process works how Square Cash does – enter your information, receive or send money.

Is Square Cash safe?

Square Cash is powered by Square, which provides, among other services, credit card readers for stores to use. Until 2011, Square didn’t encrypt the information from these credit services, leaving credit card users’ information readily available to hackers.

However, Square Cash itself has not suffered such security blunders. The Payment Card Security Industry Security Standards Council awarded Square Cash the highest level of standards security that a business can achieve, and although there are always risks when it comes to sending money online, Square Cash is about as safe as one can get.

You can download Square Cash from the iTunes App Store or Google Play