We live in a world where cash is on it’s way out the door. While I’m still a fan of using cash envelopes for budgeting, over half of the things we budget for are done electronically (like paying rent, giving to our church and other organizations, utility bills, etc.) While it’s easy to pay companies with debit cards and online bill pay, writing your friend a check for a dinner you split or tickets to a game feels ridiculous and clumsy.
In the second decade of the 21st century, peer-to-peer payments should be easy, quick, and free–like cash without the hassle of carrying around exact change.
Enter Square Cash.
You can now pay your friends with a simple email, processed by one of the leaders in mobile payments–Square.
All you need is a debit card. A credit card won’t work because your card must be linked to a checking account.
Here’s how it works.
Say you’re splitting a utility bill with your roommate and you owe him $36.41 (which would be a very complicated cash payment and, if you’re under 30, you might not even have a checkbook.)
All you need for Square Cash is a debit card, an email account, and potentially a Facebook account.
1. Open your email client of choice on your computer, phone or tablet.
Any email client–an app or web-based–will work.
2. Type in the email of whoever you are paying in the to: field.
That’d be your roommate in our example.
3. Put cash@square.com in the cc: field.
That’s what makes the magic happen behind the scenes.
4. Put the amount you owe in the subject line
$36.41, in our example.
5. Type whatever you’d like in the body of the email
I normally explain what the payment is for (January Utilities).
Your email paying a friend with Square Cash.
6. Click send
Seriously. That’s it.
7. Click the email you receive and enter your name and debit card information
The first time through you’ll get an email from Square asking you to register (and your roommate will also have to register to receive the payment, but it’s just a one-time thing).
You’ll plug in your debit card info and then be asked to link your account with your Facebook account (which I recommend because it allows you to go above the normal $250 transfer limit). If you don’t have Facebook, you’ll be limited in how much you can transfer.
8. Confirm the payment
You’ll then get a kickback email from Square asking you to click to confirm the transfer. Click and BOOM! money is transferred to your friend, landlord or stranger–fully secure and completely painless.
You can download the Square Cash app for iPhone, but it’s totally unnecessary. No proprietary software, no transaction fees and no hassle.