Which P2P Money App is Best for You?

[Greg Bernhardt]

I've long used Paypal, but now there are so many money transfer apps out there. Most seem redundant and I get really annoyed how friends and family ask me to sign up for an app just so they can send me like $20. Anyone else feel the same? What do you use?

 

[jedishrfu]

Cash, my wife gives it to me to spend in $20 increments.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Cash, my wife gives it to me to spend in $20 increments.

haha! I've tried to go cash free. I use credit for everything to get reward points.

 

[Mark44]

I like cash -- I like to have some "walkin' around money" on hand at all times. The gas station where I usually fill up used to take cash, but doesn't do so any more. Now I have to either use my debit card at the pump or go inside twice -- once to pay and once again to get change if I didn't guess correctly on the amount to put in. It irks me to have to wait in line for the people buying a lottery ticket and a pack of smokes, and paying with their credit card, which requires sending their data off somewhere via a slow modem to verify that their account is real and they're not over their credit limit. Cash is much quicker.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Cash is much quicker.

It's also not accruing interest, not awarding reward points and can easily be lost or stolen. When I take out cash, it's like it's already been spent.

 

[lekh2003]

It's also not accruing interest, not awarding reward points and can easily be lost or stolen. When I take out cash, it's like it's already been spent. [emoji2]

I agree, I think cash is a thing of a past. Any logical being can reason that using credit/paytm/PayPal/etc is better.

Only foreseeable issues with using maybe a phone to spend money is security and access to the phone. However with increasing mobile security, I can expect that problem to disappear.

Of course, as a millennial teenager, I have new world opinions. I always found receiving allowances in cash quite annoying. It bulks up and gets messy.

 

[Mark44]

It's also not accruing interest, not awarding reward points and can easily be lost or stolen. When I take out cash, it's like it's already been spent.

The current interest rates at bank savings and checking accounts are only marginally greater than zero. Credit cards, debit cards, and smart phones can also be lost or stolen, but if you lose cash, you're only out that amount of money. Not so with credit or debit cards, which require you to contact the bank to freeze the account.

Another advantage to cash is that in some sort of emergency, it can be spent the same as always. If what you spend requires electronic validation, and the power is out (as in Atlanta this past weekend), you're out of luck. For these advantages, I can forgo reward points.

 

[jtbell]

I have a PayPal account, but I use it only for buying stuff on web sites that don't have the option to pay directly via a credit card. PayPal passes those transactions straight through to my credit card.

We pay the tradespeople who do our yard work and house repairs, using that ancient biodegradable app: paper checks.

Some stores and restaurants around here (small town in the boondocks) now accept Apple Pay and maybe some other apps, but my iPhone 5S doesn't support Apple Pay. When I finally get around to upgrading my phone, I'll have to try that.

Otherwise, I use a credit card for almost everything, except small stuff like a newspaper or small bag of chips at the corner store. I still like to carry $100 or so in cash in my wallet, "just in case."

 

[Mark44]

I agree, I think cash is a thing of a past. Any logical being can reason that using credit/paytm/PayPal/etc is better.

At one time in the past couple of years I had six motorcycles. Since I was running out of space to house them, I sold two of them -- cash. I would not have taken a check, and I'm not set up to accept credit cards. Of the four I have, all were cash deals. What they say is, "cash talks."

I still like to carry $100 or so in cash in my wallet, "just in case."

Yeah, me too. That's my "walkin' around money."

I always found receiving allowances in cash quite annoying.

That's sooooo sad...

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Cash Might Be King, but They Don't Care
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/25/nyregion/no-cash-money-cashless-credit-debit-card.html