One of the questions I’ve been asked a lot recently is which phone payment app I prefer. As of lately I’ve been using Venmo and Square’s Cash. Both of these apps have managed to make paying people fairly easy when you don’t have cash or a checkbook on you.

Venmo

The first time I heard the term “Venmo me” I was with my friends going to a restaurant that  didn’t accept cash and I was a little baffled on what they meant. Then I find out it’s one of the newest ways to pay people. Where have I been? As of lately, Venmo has been crushing the mobile app market especially with the younger demographic. This app let’s you send money to somebody with the click of a button on your smartphone. It’s almost like a payment portal with a social network within it. You can add friends on Venmo, see the payments other people send, like, or even comment on the transactions that are occurring in your feed. Venmo is free to download on Android and iOS. It’s capabilities include sending payments via debit cards, bank transfers, and credit cards. Venmo does take longer to set up as it requires your actual account and routing number. What really makes this app stand out to me is it’s ability to pay someone via credit card even with a small 2.9% fee.

 Square Cash

As a habitual user of Venmo I started to hear about Square Cash. They currently offer a $5 sign up bonus and a $5 referral bonus for free. Quite an aggressive growth hack don’t you think? This really pushed me to try it out. After installation I noticed how much easier it was easier to get started and start sending money with the Cash app. After downloading and using both, I did find Square Cash to be a tad easier. All I had to do was type in my Debit Card number, the CVV code on the back, and click send to the name of the person that I typed in.

One of the biggest benefits is that the person who is sending you money doesn’t have to download the app on their phone. If they don’t have the app downloaded on the phone, you send a request to their contact; this emails them a link that prompts them to input their debit card number in order to receive the payment. In case you didn’t know, Snapchat has also enabled a feature known as Snapcash which allows you to snap money via a private message. Snapchat has actually delegated this process to Square. So in the end, Snapcashes processing is managed by Cash.

Overall both of these apps are fairly easy to use. I prefer that people can’t see every time I pay someone on Square Cash. I also do like Venmos ability to pay via credit card. Both also take a few days to appear in your account once you have deposited it. They both have their pros so I’m pretty sure I’ll just keep both.