Okay... So first off, what is the Cash App?

In a nutshell is basically a peer to peer digital payment app that is similar to PayPal, except I would say it is a bit more user-friendly and focused more on the peer to peer payment aspect.

This app is often used for simple payments between people who know each other. For example, you can easily Cash App your friend some money for that movie they paid for, or maybe for that big Mac at McDonald's in which you didn't have your wallet, or vice versa.

The app is incredibly easy to use, as a simple layout that is easy to navigate, and overall is a very easy way to send and receive money.

When you open up an account with the app you get your own "virtual wallet" and along with this you will get your own virtual routing and account number to get direct deposits. Additionally, you also can get a debit card that is linked to your account which has its benefits, buy/sell bitcoin and more. 

Oh yeah… And they don't charge any fees, which I know can be hard to believe.

The Company Behind The App:

The company that created this app is Square Inc. (website squareup.com) You may have not heard of them before but you probably have seen their products, maybe without knowing it. You've probably seen small business owners using remote payment processors, sometimes hooked up to their tablets or smart phones. Square Inc makes these things.

Their creation of Cash App is another way to help out small businesses. That said, it seems that most people using this app or people who know each other and send money back and forth.

How Does The Cash App Make Money?

The big question… How does this app make any money? I want to touch on this because I know that a lot of people are going to be wondering how this works. After all, it has to be making money, right?

Well… Square does charge a 1.5% processing fee on their Cash for Small Businesses feature. But of course many people using this app or even using this feature and will never have any fees on their transactions.

So again, how is it making money? This question is a curiosity for many people and there is a lot of talk about how Square will monetize this app in the future, such as this article in The Motley Fool. It seems that there will be more monetization coming down the pipe work that isn't a reality yet.

But anyways… The fact of the matter is that Cash App is 100% fee-less for the majority of people using it.

Cash App is free to download. After installing it you will be prompted to enter your phone number or email address, which will be connected to your account. You will then be sent a verification code to enter in order to confirm the account.

After that you will be able to "add a bank" by linking your debit card number to your account, but you can skip this for later if you wish.

The last part of the initial account creation process is to create a "$Cashtag", which is a nickname used when people pay you.

Upon opening the app for the first time you will see the screen shown below…

When paying or requesting money you can choose a sender or receiver by entering their name, $Cashtag, SMS, or email...

The fact that you can get a debit card linked to your Cash App account it's pretty cool, so want to talk a bit more on this.

With your debit card (aka cash card) you will be able to get instant discounts, use it to withdraw money at any ATM, and even get direct deposits. It works just like any other debit card and Visa is the brand behind it, so you know it can be trusted.

When I say you can get "instant discounts" with this card I'll explain what I'm talking about: we can do is add a "boost" to your card, which is a special discount offer when you use it somewhere.

For example, I just set up a new account as I am writing this and I have the following available "boosts" that I add to my card…

• 10% off at Wendy's
• $1 off at coffee shops
• 10% off at Chipotle
• 10% off at Whole Foods
• 10% off at Panda Express
• 10% off at Chick-fil-A
• 10% off at Dairy Queen
• 10% off at Shake Shack
• 10% off at Domino's

And these discounts are for every visit you make. So if you would choose a 10% off discount at Wendy's, you would get 10% off every time you use that card there. It is not like a "one and done" type of deal.

One of the more new features that has been added to the app is the ability to buy or sell bitcoin. Now this definitely isn't for everyone, and you should be well aware of the risks involved if you do choose to participate in this, but nonetheless it is a very nice feature that many people will appreciate.

When you go to buy/sell bitcoin you will first see a very basic price chart to give you an idea of what the price of bitcoin is looking like, and then you will be able to choose to buy or sell.

When buying bitcoin it will use the money in your account, which it will bring and automatically from your linked debit card if you don't have enough available. Then it will make the purchase of bitcoin automatically.

Square has what they call "subzero" bitcoin cold storage to keep your funds are safe. Basically what this means is that they store your bitcoin off-line so that it is "un hackable" and much safer. This is a precaution that any reputable cryptocurrency exchange takes these days.

If you want to withdraw your bitcoin or sell it, you will need to provide additional verification such as your full name, Social Security number, date of birth, driver's license, and a photo of yourself. This is pretty much standard procedure.

And the last thing that I want to mention about the bitcoin exchange feature that this app offers is the price at which you are able to buy/sell bitcoin app. It is not a big deal, but it does seem that the prices they offer are a bit higher than other exchanges.

For example, below that you can see that when I went to buy one dollar of bitcoin on the app the exchange rate was $6,441.22, yet at the same time I could have purchased bitcoin on Coinbase Pro (more professional version of Coinbase) for $6,358.80. It is not much of a difference, but I think it is worth mentioning.

They say that there is no fee when it comes to buying/selling bitcoin, but it seems that the fee may be somewhat incorporated into the price. But I really wasn't able to find out all that much information on this and this is just a guess.

So let's say you have a bunch of money in your account and want to cash it out. Maybe someone just sent you money for one reason or another, maybe you just don't feel like having so much money in your account anymore, whatever the case.

Luckily, this process is very simple. All you have to do is click on the "cash out" button, choose whether you want it transferred at a standard rate or instant rate, and enter your pin or touch ID to confirm the transaction.

If you choose an instant cash out you will be charged a 1.5% fee and if you choose standard there will be no fee. However, with standard it might take a few days to show up in your bank account.

One of the cool things about this app is that they have a referral program in place where you can get $5 when you download and use the app as well as when you refer others to do so. You and your friends can get $5, for free, in your account at no extra cost to anyone.

So let's say that you download the app right now and enter my referral code… You and I are both eligible to earn five dollars for free. 

Here is how it works...

How to Use a Get $5 When Joining

Step 1) After you have downloaded the app you can click on the account icon in the top left of the screen

Step 2) Scroll down to the bottom and click on "Enter Referral Code"

Step 3) Enter this referral code to get the $5 bonus

Step 4) Link a debit card and send $5 using Cash App within the next 14 days. This can be done in one or multiple payments, as long as $5 is sent

Step 5) Enjoy the free $5 you just got!

Simple as that… All you have to do is join, enter the referral code, link a debit card, send at least five dollars over the app that it's that… You get $5 for free.

There is not an app out there that you will find which doesn't have any complaints. No matter how good something is, there are always going to be some problems in some people complaining. That said, Cash App has some incredibly good ratings and on it Google Play it has a 4.0/5 star rating with over 50,000 reviews.

But… As I said there are complaints and the following are some of the more common ones I have come across that you should be aware of…

Support 

When it comes to the support offered you are bound to be disappointed. They have no customer service phone number and emailing them can be a real pain, getting automated generic emails all too often.

Most of the complaints I have come across actually seem to stem from the fact that they do not offer phone support. Many people are complaining about not getting their cash fast enough and things like this. They unfortunately had to resort to writing a complaint because they were not able to get a hold of support fast enough.

Missing Cash Outs

I have read through several complaints from people claiming that they went to cash out, the money left their Cash App account, but it never ended up in their bank account. Many of the people complaining just haven't waited long enough for the money to come through, but some people claim to have started the process weeks or even over a month ago and still don't have their money.

I was reading complaints about this on Google Play and it seems that the support team is very quick to get in contact with these people and help them out. However, I have no idea if these people's problems were resolved… I have no idea if they were actually able to recover their funds. That said, I'm guessing that they were able to because, if not, I would expect to see some follow-up complaints from these people, which I don't see.

While this is obviously a very serious complaint, it very seldom occurs and when it dies, it seems to be fixed.

Being Scammed

And then of course there are complaints from people who have been scams. I'm talking about people who have sent money to the wrong person, or maybe to someone who turned out to be different than they thought. This is NOT Cash App's fault if this happens. However, if this has happened to you there is a way to get your money back, or at least potentially get your money back.

*Note: Complaints about glitches or technical problems with the app or pretty much nonexistent. This is very impressive to see. I have not read about anyone not being able to open the app or anything of this nature. This is not an app that you are going to have to worry about getting "stuck" during the middle of sending a payment.

So you got scammed, you lost money and now you are looking for a way to get back. What do you do?

Well… This depends on where the money you sent came from. They come from your Cash App account or did it come from a debit card that was links to your account? The procedure for getting your money back is different depending on the source.

From Your Account: If the money sent came from your Cash App account then you are going to have to deal with the Cash App support. I suggest getting in contact with them here: http://squ.re/cashhelp. It might be too late, but if they are able to retrieve the money from the receivers account, you want to get in contact with them as soon as possible.

From a Linked Debit Card: If the money you sent came from a debit card that was links into your account, you're going to have to get in contact with your bank. Again, there is no guarantee that you will be able to retrieve your funds in the process may be different depending on what bank you have.

Cash App is definitely not a scam. This app was created by a legitimate company and there's no way they would jeopardize their reputation by putting out some cash grabbing scam app. I understand that some people feel scammed, but most of the stories I have read from people who claim to have been scammed are either ridiculous, don't make much sense, or have no proof to back them up.

Why people claim it is a scam…

There are various reasons, some of which that I came across include that: the app are charged a transaction fee (happens when you make instant cash outs), that the support sucks and there is no phone number to call for immediate help (understandable), that someone accidentally sent money to the wrong person and can't get it back, that money which was cashed out is missing, and so on.

Some of these claims that the app is a scam are legitimate and understandable, but many are not. The ones that are include things such as missing cash after having cashed out. However, as I mentioned earlier, it seems that these people problems have been resolved and they have been reunited with their cash… many of these people just complaining prematurely and I have no idea what happened to some other people's cash with this sort of problem.

Are you looking for a super easy way to send and receive money… Make peer-to-peer transactions between friends and other people? Are you looking for an easy to use app that you can do this with on your phone… An app that is trusted (despite the complaints) in that you don't have to worry about stealing your money?

If you answer yes to any of these questions then Cash App might be a good choice for you. The app works great and it does exactly what it is intended to do.

After downloading the app you can use my referral code QHMDNJK to get your $5 bonus, which will also help support my blog here so that I can keep writing good reviews like this. 

If you have any comments or questions please leave them below and I'll get back to you as soon as I can 🙂