Cash App has become a great way to pay friends as well as trade on. Have you been out to dinner and they won’t do separate checks? With Cash App, you can all send money to the designated payer. And then dinner is taken care of. As a result, we do a Cash App review so you know what you’re getting with this company.
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Table of Contents
Cash App Review Introduction
The Cash App is the digital and mobile payment app from fintech company Block, formerly known as Square. In a world where digital payments and money transfers are becoming the norm, the Cash App is one of the leaders in the space.
With the app, you can seamlessly send money to other Cash App users in a matter of seconds. It was initially launched in 2013 and now has over 30 million monthly active users primarily in the United States. The Cash App has a 4.5 star rating in the Apple App Store and is the number one downloaded financial payment app.
Block rose to prominence in the financial world with its credit card payment squares that plug into a mobile phone. For the first time, small businesses could instantly accept card payments on the spot. Block continues to support small and medium-sized businesses with its merchant cash advance program. The Cash App is also a great tool for consumers to purchase goods and services directly from businesses.
As Block evolves as a company, the Cash App also continues to be a mobile super app and full financial ecosystem. So let’s continue with our Cash App review.
Who Can Use the Cash App?
Anyone! As long as you live in the United States or the United Kingdom. Yes, unfortunately, one of the downsides to the Cash App right now is it is only available in these two markets. If the app is available to you, it is free to download for both Android or iOS smartphones or tablets. As I mentioned, the Cash App is also excellent for businesses to accept as a form of payment.
Block lowered the minimum age requirement to sign up for a Cash App account. Previous to this, users had to be at least 18 years of age to use the app. Since November, users as young as 13 can now use the app to transfer money. Other features in the app are not available until they have reached 18 years of age.
Is Cash App Free to Use?
Yes, with an asterisk. Like most apps, Cash App is free to download and free to sign up for a new account. Standard money transfers between users are also free, particularly within the same geographical region. It makes sense, most money transfers between banks are free, so if we’re moving towards a decentralized and digital future, mobile app transfers should be too.
What the Cash App does charge for is any of its financial services beyond money transfers. The user will not see any up-front fee or cost though. A small surcharge will be added to each transaction whenever a user trades stocks or cryptocurrencies within the app.
So this is the asterisk on our Cash App review. You’ll never be directly charged a fee or pay to use the service, the app does take small transaction fees for anything other than a direct money transfer.
What Features Does Cash App Offer?
The Cash App is being built up to be Block’s all-in-one financial services ecosystem. The company has continued to add more features to it with each passing year.
Current CEO Jack Dorsey also stepped down from his position as CEO of Twitter, to focus all of his efforts towards Block. Dorsey is a huge fan of blockchain technology, particularly when it comes to cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. What else is in this Cash App review?
Direct Money Transfer
The heart and soul of this Cash App review and the most popular reason why most users download the app.
The Cash App really took off during the COVID-19 pandemic as the touchless and instant transfer fit the world’s needs.
It also operates as a mobile bank account, if you need to access funds instantly.
Load up your Cash App account and you have a digital bank account that is ready to send or receive funds with the push of a button.
The Cash Card
This product was originally released in 2017 but has gained popularity as more users have come to the platform. The Cash Card is a pre-loaded debit card that users can link directly to their Cash App account.
When you order the Cash Card through the app, you can fully customize its look. Add colors, stamps, images, or even your own doodles to the card to make it truly unique.
The Cash Card currently has 7 million users and is accepted anywhere that Visa Debit payments can be used.
Bitcoin Trading
I told you Jack Dorsey loves cryptocurrencies.
Before the company even added stock investing, Dorsey added the ability to trade Bitcoin back in 2018.
Crypto trading is one service that the Cash App charges a small fee for.
But users can buy, sell, and store Bitcoin directly in their Cash App accounts. Users can even send Bitcoin to other users as payment.
Block has not made any announcement with regards to adding further cryptocurrencies to trade in the future. Users must be 18 years of age or older to trade Bitcoin in Cash App.
Stock Investing
In 2020, Block also added the ability for users to buy and sell stocks. Hence our Cash App review. Most US stocks are available in the Cash App, and users can invest as little as $1.00.
This is because the Cash App allows users to buy fractional shares of companies, rather than needing to buy complete shares. Stock trading also takes a small transaction fee, similar to Bitcoin trading. Users must also be 18 years or older to trade stocks in the Cash App.
Cash App User Interface
Cash App has gained popularity amongst its users because of its simple to use interface. Which is why we’re doing this Cash App review.
Its mobile app is clean and extremely user intuitive. The transaction screen is literally just a giant numeric keypad with buttons to send or request funds.
Users can also see their transaction history, as well as a quick link to their account details. One of the best features in my opinion, is the auto cash out option. This allows users to receive cash and then send it directly and automatically to their connected bank account.
One thing to note with the Cash App is that it does have a limit on your transaction amounts. Initially, users can send up to $250 per week and receive up to $1,000 per month.
To increase these amounts, users must verify their accounts with a social security number. Once the account is verified, the limits are raised to send up to $7,500 per week and an unlimited amount to receive.
Cash App Competitors
Of course, the Cash App is not the only money transfer app that is available. As we begin to rely more on digital money transfers and payments, the competition is going to grow more fierce. These are some of the more popular apps that are the biggest rivals and threats to Cash App’s market dominance.
PayPal Venmo
Of course, the other big name in the money transfer and payment space is PayPal. This company has been in the game for longer than Block. It’s one advantage over Block is that it has a global reach and wide network of users.
However, if we want to talk about direct competition for the Cash App, it has to be PayPal’s Venmo. This is PayPal’s peer to peer payment service that is used primarily on smartphones. Over the past year, Venmo was surpassed by Cash App as the most used payment app in the United States.
Apple Pay
Apple Pay is the payment system integrated into Apple’s iPhones and is mostly used as a wallet to hold credit cards. In the United States, Apple Pay has an Apple Cash function which is a similar system to Venmo and Cash App.
Of course, the one limiting factor to Apple Cash is that it is only usable by iPhone, iPad, or Mac users. It is accepted at all merchants who also accept Discover cards.
Google Pay
For Android users, Google has the Google Pay option. It’s also primarily used for smartphones and within the Google ecosystem. However, Google Pay does have one advantage over Apple Cash in the United States and India: iPhone users can also use Google Pay.
A majority of smartphone users around the world are Android users, so Google Pay has the opportunity to be on one of the largest payment systems in the world.
Google Pay has also expanded to accept event tickets, boarding passes, car keys, identification cards, store cards, loyalty cards, and even health records. A Cash App review shows they don’t offer this.
Cash App Stock Price and Symbol: Are They Publicly Traded?
Cash App is owned by Square and is a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: SQ).
Cash App Review Final Thoughts
We hope you enjoyed this Cash App review. The world is going to continue to move towards digital payments in the future. Nearly every mobile phone and accessory has the ability to have a digital wallet integrated into them.
With these wallets, our smartphones are eliminating the need to carry actual wallets or even our keys. The Cash App is the market leader in the United States and has tremendous brand loyalty amongst millennials and younger generations. With the added features of Bitcoin trading and stock investing, the Cash App is rapidly turning into a full financial services ecosystem.
