CPA_Practice_Advisor_March_2020 - 18

APPS WE LOVE

By Gail Perry, CPA, Editor-in-Chief

Bill Payment Apps
MORE AND MORE, we're moving money around with our phones and computers.
Remember checks? I opened a new bank account recently and didn't get any checks at
all - not even a starter pad. When it comes to transferring money between individuals
and businesses, there are many options available that don't include paper checks. Most
banks themselves offer bill payment and money transfer options on their websites. Here
we've listed a handful of apps that coordinate cash transfers.
For many, PayPal was the first
money transfer app we used. This
money transfer company has withstood the test of time, having been
around for more than 20 years. You
can create an invoice within PayPal,
accept payments from bank accounts
and credit cards, send and receive
cash payments from individuals and
businesses, transfer money internationally. You can set up PayPal on your
website to collect payments. Users
connect a bank account or credit card
to their account and then money is
drawn directly from that source when
payments are made. You can leave
money you have received in a PayPal
account or download it to your bank.
PayPal offers credit cards, debit cards,
and prepaid cards to its users. A fee of

MARCH 2020 ■

up to 4.4% can be charged depending
on the type of transaction.
While you can set up individual
accounts with most of your credit card
companies and banks and utilities in
order to pay your bills online, Prism lets
you aggregate all of your accounts in
one place, sends you alerts of payment
deadlines, and lets you make all of
your online payments through the
Prism app. Pre-schedule payments,
see what bills need to be paid in the
weeks ahead, check your bank balances, set up your paydays to help
with budgeting, view your payment
history, and even get reminders of
bills you'll be paying manually, so that
all of your payment activity can be
organized in one location. With no ads
and a clean, logical interface, Prism

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is a leader in the bill payment arena.
Venmo is owned by PayPal and is
specifically designed to facilitate cash
transfer between individuals. Often
advertised as a great way to split the
bill at a restaurant or to reimburse
friends who covered the cost of movie
tickets or a shared ride, Venmo's ease
of use allows you take the awkwardness out of counting out currency and
trying to make change. Venmo is not
just for individuals - small businesses
use Venmo to collect payments from
their customers. The social media feel
of the app, including the ability to add
a personal message and even emojis,
adds to the app's approachable and
comfortable appeal. International payments are not available at this time.
Phones and wearable devices have
their own payment systems. Depending on your device, you might choose
Apple Pay, Google Pay, or Samsung
Pay. There are other mobile payment
options available on different devices,
but these are the big three. All offer
some international payment options.
All three work with Near Field Communication (NFC) payment terminals,
often found at grocery and other retail
store checkout counters, as well
as in-app purchases. To use any of
these payment options, you connect
an existing credit card, bank account,
or PayPal Account (Samsung Pay and
Google Pay only) to the virtual card,
and then you can use your phone to
make a payment anywhere the phone
payment option is available.
You've probably encountered the
little plug-in credit card reader called

Square which enables a user to turn a
smart phone into a point-of-sale system that accepts credit cards including chip cards. Square expanded to
include Square Cash, which has been
compared to the Venmo app. Because
they already had a successful history
with the Square card reader, many
business owners have made the transition to using Square Cash for their
business. Distinguishing itself from
Venmo, Square Cash allows users to
create their own names or use a business name, keeping personal identity
information private. Square cash links
to a bank account and transfers occur
for a small fee.
Zelle provides the peer-to-peer
funds exchange experience similar to
Venmo but its marketing focus is bank
customers. You can exchange funds
at no charge with anyone else in the
family of participating banks. As long
as you sign up for the app through
your bank, you don't actually need to
install the app on your phone.
Not to be left out of the money
exchange business, Facebook Messenger has gotten into the cash transfer business as well, using the social
feel that is provided through Venmo.
You can transfer cash easily through
Facebook Messenger without having
to sign up for a separate app. Reports
indicate that it takes about five days
for the cash to transfer. Users connect
their bank account to the Messenger
app and simply click the plus sign and
then the dollar sign option within a
message to initiate a bank transfer.
I'm mentioning Xoom and Circle
Pay in passing without having had any
experience with either one. Xoom is
owned by PayPal. Both products focus
on international transfer of funds.
Xoom claims to have 131 countries in
its family and Circle Pay is available in
29 countries. There are fees associated
with the transfers. ■

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CPA_Practice_Advisor_March_2020

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