It’s New Year’s Eve, and parties abound. If you’re heading out with your best friend of yours who never carries cash (even when you remind them a million times about the door cover or cash-only bar), get acquainted with your new best friend, Square Cash.
Square Cash, n;
An email-based way to send cash in seconds. Square Cash, built by the guys who brought small businesses the ability to accept credit cards through phones and tablets, lets you transfer money painlessly with the basic communication of email. Compose an email to the friend you owe, copy Square, type the amount owed in the subject line, and even leave a thank you message if you please. When you send, you and the recipient both get an email and are taken to Square to enter your card information. Once both are accepted, the money moves magically, like that quarter your dad always carried and somehow found behind your ear.
Square Cash also has an app (a Yapp favorite that we’ve previously featured) that is the same level of simple. Open the app, type in the amount you’re sending, and they’ll generate an email in your client that’s set and ready to send to whomever. It’s comparable to Venmo — which lets you pay your contacts and Facebook friends within apps — and Google Wallet, which strikes more as a digital payment-to-store service.
Getting money deposited in your bank account always seems like magic, but it’s pretty simple with Square. There isn’t any new technology to understand, just email and, basically, a return credit from Square. You give your money to Square, and they credit it back to your friends who register their cards after your initial email. The uses go far beyond bars and clubs — send your debt payments to mom and dad (or your loans to son or daughter), pay your roommate for bills, pay your balance for the Thai delivery order.
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