Difference between revisions of "Cash App"

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==Ethical concerns==
 
==Ethical concerns==
 
===Criminal activity===
 
===Criminal activity===
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Cash App has been used by numerous individuals to engage in criminal activity. Though other mobile payment apps are also by criminals, statistics collected after analyzing reviews of these apps have determined that most cases of fraud are tied to Cash App (c26,c29).
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 +
 +
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In fact, Cash App experienced a 169 percent increase in the number of app reviews mentioning the terms “scam” or “fraud” from 2019 to 2020 (c29).
 +
 +
In this time span, Venmo suffered a much smaller increase of 97 percent while Zelle experienced a decrease of 8 percent (c29).
 +
 +
 +
Moreover from January 2021 to June 2021, the Federal Trade Commision (FTC) received more complaints regarding fraud that were tied to Cash App than any other P2P payment service (c28).
 +
 +
While the FTC received just 191 complaints about Zelle during this time period and 845 complaints about Venmo, they received 2,431 complaints about Cash App (c28).
 +
 +
The median loss for individuals filing these complaints about Cash App was around 500 dollars though there are some who lost tens of thousands of dollars (c28).
 +
 +
 +
On the dark web, a portion of the Internet where criminals can communicate and engage in illicit activity, Cash App was mentioned 10,577 times in August 2020, far more than Venmo, which had 2,782 mentions, and Zelle, which had 2,972 mentions (c29).
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====Fake goods and services====
 
====Fake goods and services====
 
====Flipping fraud====
 
====Flipping fraud====
 
====COVID-19 relief fraud====
 
====COVID-19 relief fraud====
 
====Drug dealing====
 
====Drug dealing====
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+
 
 
===Third-party data sharing===
 
===Third-party data sharing===
  

Revision as of 20:33, 11 February 2022

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Cash App, a subsidiary of Block, Inc. (formerly known as Square, Inc.), is a mobile app launched in 2013 as a peer-to-peer (P2P) payments service.[1] Since its inception, Cash App has expanded to provide banking and brokerage services.[2] The app, which is only available in the United States and the United Kingdom, can be downloaded for free through the Google Play Store and App Store on the Android and iOS mobile operating systems, respectively.[3][4] With its power to simplify payments and personal finance, Cash App is an incredibly popular platform with millions of users at its disposal.[2][5] Nevertheless, concerns regarding its use in illicit activity and the app’s data policy remain.[6][7]

History

App development

When it initially launched in 2013, Cash App solely served as a P2P payments service.[3] In 2017, the Cash Card, which functions as a Visa debit card, was released by Cash App.[8] In the same year, Cash App also introduced a new service that allowed Bitcoin to be traded.[1] Cash App additionally developed the ability to trade stocks in late 2019.[9]

Giveaways and growth

Due to competitive pressures arising from many other companies existing in the market for mobile payments, Cash App has taken a unique measure to expand its user base.[10] Cash App engages with current and prospective users by conducting cash giveaways. Through a marketing campaign created in late 2017 called “Cash App Friday,” Cash App gives random users hundreds of dollars every Friday. In fact, Cash App has partnered with numerous hip-hop artists who take part in these giveaways: Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion each worked with Cash App to give 500 dollars to 2,000 different individuals in 2019.

In addition to Cash App itself giving away money, the app has made its way into the 450 billion dollar charity industry.[10] Charitable individuals hoping to help those struggling with financial hardships have found directly donating to people through Cash App to be more effective than donating to non-profit organizations since a direct giveaway more urgently reaches people.

With such techniques being deployed to gain more users, Cash App has grown its number of active users from 7 million in 2017 to over 70 million in late 2021.[5][10] In addition, the app has generated over 1.8 billion in gross profit from Q4 of 2020 to Q3 of 2021.[5]

App features

$Cashtag

Upon creating a Cash App account, users select a unique identifier, which is referred to as a “$Cashtag”.[11] Once a $Cashtag is claimed by a user, a shareable URL that can be used to receive money is created.[11] A $Cashtag must be between one and 20 characters, and it can only be changed twice.[11][12]

P2P payments

The first service Cash App supported upon its launch was P2P payments.[13][3] This service allows individuals to exchange money with friends, family, and businesses.[3] To take part in a P2P payment, Cash App users need to link a debit or credit card from American Express, Discover, MasterCard, or Visa.[14] If a user chooses to use a credit card, they will need to pay a three percent fee on payments that they send.[15] In addition to linking a debit or credit card, users can link a prepaid card.[14] Deposits cannot be made to prepaid cards.[14]

When sending money over Cash App, an individual must provide the phone number, email address, or $Cashtag of their intended recipient.[16] Receivers do not need to take any action; however, if they wish to examine the details of a particular payment, they can view their activity feed on Cash App.[17] Before providing additional information to verify their identity, a user can only send and receive 1,000 dollars over a 30-day period.[15] Once a user verifies their identity, this limit is increased.

It can take between one and three business days to transfer money into a bank account from Cash App.[3][18] However, instant transfers can be made if a 1.5 percent fee is paid.[3][18]

Prior to 2022, Cash App had to file a Form 1099-K form to the internal revenue service (IRS) for only those who took part in over 200 commercial transactions that resulted in over 20,000 dollars of gross income.[19][20][21] Beginning in 2022, Cash App must file a Form 1099-K to the IRS for anyone who receives over 600 dollars in gross income through commercial means.[19][20]

Cash Card

The Cash Card is a Visa debit card offered by Cash App and issued by Sutton Bank.[15][22] It is linked to an individual’s Cash App account balance but not any personal banking account.[8][15] The card can be used to make both offline and online purchases.[22] Additionally, the Cash Card has spending and withdrawal limits.[15] Individuals can spend at most 7,000 dollars per transaction, 7,000 dollars per day, 10,000 dollars per week, and 25,000 dollars per 30-day period.[15][23]

Direct Deposit

Cash App users also have the option to set up direct deposit.[24] Paychecks and tax returns are among the items that can be directly deposited into an individual’s Cash App balance. As with most services provided by Cash App, their direct deposit comes with limits: at most 25,000 dollars can be received per direct deposit and at most 50,000 dollars can be received per day.

Investing

Cash App provides a service that allows its users to invest in stocks.[25] With just one dollar, users are able to invest. Currently, Cash App provides access to over 1,600 publicly traded stocks and exchange-traded funds.[26] Cash App has also made its way into the cryptocurrency industry as it allows its users to buy and sell Bitcoin.[27] The app additionally provides its users the ability to send Bitcoin directly to other users.[25]

Competitors

Venmo

Venmo, which is owned by PayPal, is one of Cash App’s largest competitors.[3][28] As with Cash App, Venmo's primary service is P2P payments. Venmo charges the same credit card and instant transfer fees as Cash App.[29] Moreover, Venmo is similar to Cash App in that it allows users to set up direct deposits and trade cryptocurrency.[30] Venmo, like Cash App, also supplies debit cards that are linked to a user’s account balance.[31] However, differences between Cash App and Venmo exist. Unlike Cash App, which only allows its users to trade Bitcoin, Venmo provides its users the opportunity to trade Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Bitcoin Cash.[32] Another key difference is that Venmo is only available in the United States and P2P transactions that occur on Venmo can be made public for others to view.[33]

PayPal

PayPal became one of the world’s first digital payments platforms when it was founded in 1998.[34] It is quite similar to Cash App and Venmo as it also offers P2P payments, its own debit card, and the ability to trade cryptocurrencies.[34][35][36] Nonetheless, PayPal differs from Cash App and Venmo in a few ways. For one, unlike Venmo, which only allows payments within the United States, and Cash App, which only allows international payments between the United States and the United Kingdom, PayPal is available in over 200 countries and international payments can be made across these countries.[33][34][4] PayPal also has a much larger footprint in carrying out transactions between businesses and consumers than Cash App and Venmo.[34][37] Furthermore, PayPal differs from these two in that it offers a line of credit.[38]

Zelle

Zelle operates in a much different manner than Cash App, Venmo, and PayPal.[31] Zelle’s main service is P2P payments but unlike these three other apps, Zelle does not allow its users to maintain a cash balance. Without such a feature, Zelle transfers money directly between its users’ bank accounts. These transfers are free of any fees and happen within a few minutes. Zelle also does not offer its own debit card or a service to trade cryptocurrency. On top of that, Zelle differs from Cash App, Venmo, and PayPal as it does not need to report any transactions to the IRS or file Forms 1099-K to the IRS.[19][39]

Over 1,000 United States banks and credit unions work with Zelle. Some of these banks include Bank of America, Chase Bank, Capital One, Wells Fargo Bank, and PNC Bank.[40] The mobile apps of most banks that work with Zelle have built-in functionality that allows Zelle P2P payments to take place within their own app.[31]

Apple Cash

Apple Cash, which was developed by Apple, is yet another competitor of Cash App (c50).[41] Apple Cash allows P2P payments to take place on iPhone, Apple Watch, and iPad devices.[41] As opposed to Cash App, Venmo, PayPal, and Zelle, which have their own apps, Apple Cash uses iMessage to conduct P2P payments.[41] Additionally, while its competitors are available on Android, Apple Cash is restricted to those using iOS devices.[3]

Ethical concerns

Criminal activity

Cash App has been used by numerous individuals to engage in criminal activity. Though other mobile payment apps are also by criminals, statistics collected after analyzing reviews of these apps have determined that most cases of fraud are tied to Cash App (c26,c29).



In fact, Cash App experienced a 169 percent increase in the number of app reviews mentioning the terms “scam” or “fraud” from 2019 to 2020 (c29).

In this time span, Venmo suffered a much smaller increase of 97 percent while Zelle experienced a decrease of 8 percent (c29).


Moreover from January 2021 to June 2021, the Federal Trade Commision (FTC) received more complaints regarding fraud that were tied to Cash App than any other P2P payment service (c28).

While the FTC received just 191 complaints about Zelle during this time period and 845 complaints about Venmo, they received 2,431 complaints about Cash App (c28).

The median loss for individuals filing these complaints about Cash App was around 500 dollars though there are some who lost tens of thousands of dollars (c28).


On the dark web, a portion of the Internet where criminals can communicate and engage in illicit activity, Cash App was mentioned 10,577 times in August 2020, far more than Venmo, which had 2,782 mentions, and Zelle, which had 2,972 mentions (c29).






Fake goods and services

Flipping fraud

COVID-19 relief fraud

Drug dealing

Third-party data sharing

See Also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Hale, K. (2020, September 22). Hip-hop's role in Square's $40 billion Cash App business success. Forbes. Retrieved January 24, 2022, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/korihale/2020/09/22/hip-hops-role-in-squares-40-billion-cash-app-business-success
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Cash App. (n.d.). The easiest way to send, spend, bank, and invest. Cash App. Retrieved January 25, 2022, from https://cash.app
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 Graham, J. (2020, March 26). PayPal, Venmo, Apple Pay, Google and Facebook: rating the mobile payment apps. USA Today. Retrieved January 24, 2022, from https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2020/03/25/rating-paypal-venmo-apple-cash-facebook-google-zelle/5005537002
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Cash App. (n.d.). International payments. Cash App. Retrieved February 9, 2022, from https://cash.app/help/us/en-us/3056-sent-payments-international
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Levy, A. (2021, September 20). Don't look now: Square's Cash App is almost as big as Venmo. Nasdaq. Retrieved January 24, 2022, from https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/dont-look-now%3A-squares-cash-app-is-almost-as-big-as-venmo-2021-09-20
  6. ↑ Graham, J. (2020, March 29). Apps like Venmo, Cash and PayPal are free, but here's who they are telling your business. USA Today. Retrieved January 24, 2022, from https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2020/03/25/how-private-is-your-paypal-venmo-cash-app-mobile-pay-data/5002726002
  7. ↑ Zamost, S., Tausche, K., & Hernandez, K. (2020, November 18). Criminals launder coronavirus relief money, exploit victims through popular apps. CNBC. Retrieved January 25, 2022, from https://www.cnbc.com/2020/11/18/criminals-launder-coronavirus-relief-money-exploit-victims-through-popular-apps.html
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Salinas, S. (2017, November 16). Square Cash users can now withdraw money from any ATM with their Cash Cards. CNBC. Retrieved January 24, 2022, from https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/16/square-cash-atm-withdrawal-enabled-for-cash-app-users.html
  9. ↑ Rooney, K. (2019, October 24). Square launches stock trading on its popular Cash App. CNBC. Retrieved February 10, 2022, from https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/24/square-launches-stock-trading-on-its-popular-cash-app.html
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Hale, K. (2020, December 18). Hip-hop helps Cash App disrupt the $450 billion charity space. Forbes. Retrieved January 25, 2022, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/korihale/2020/12/17/hip-hop-helps-cash-app-disrupt-the-450-billion-charity-space/?sh=74abe9ef6844
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Cash App. (n.d.). What is a $Cashtag?. Cash App. Retrieved January 25, 2022, from https://cash.app/help/us/en-us/3123-cashtags
  12. ↑ Cash App. (n.d.). Change your $Cashtag. Cash App. Retrieved January 25, 2022, from https://cash.app/help/us/en-us/3132-cashtags
  13. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named hiphop-40
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Cash App. (n.d.). Supported cards with Cash App. Cash App. Retrieved January 25, 2022, from https://cash.app/help/us/en-us/5588-supported-cards
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 15.5 Bessette, C. (2021, February 26). Cash App money transfer: what it is, how to use It. NerdWallet. Retrieved January 25, 2022, from https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/banking/cash-app-review
  16. ↑ Cash App. (n.d.). Sending a payment. Cash App. Retrieved January 25, 2022, from https://cash.app/help/us/en-us/1105-sending-a-payment
  17. ↑ Cash App. (n.d.). Receiving a payment. Cash App. Retrieved January 25, 2022, from https://cash.app/help/us/en-us/1111-receiving-a-payment
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Cash App. (n.d.). Cash out speed options. Cash App. Retrieved January 25, 2022, from https://cash.app/help/us/en-us/3073-cash-out-speed-options
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 Fitzsimons, T. (2022, January 19). Venmo, PayPal and Zelle must report $600+ in transactions to IRS. NBCNews.com. Retrieved January 26, 2022, from https://www.nbcnews.com/news/venmo-paypal-zelle-must-report-600-transactions-irs-rcna11260
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Cash App. (n.d.). Tax reporting with Cash for Business. Cash App. Retrieved January 25, 2022, from https://cash.app/help/us/en-us/5641-tax-reporting-with-cash-for-business
  21. ↑ Square. (n.d.). Square tax reporting and Form 1099-K overview. Square. Retrieved January 25, 2022, from https://squareup.com/help/us/en/article/5048-1099-k-overview
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Cash App. (n.d.). Order Cash Card. Cash App. Retrieved January 25, 2022, from https://cash.app/help/us/en-us/3080-cash-card-get-started
  23. ↑ Cash App. (n.d.). Cash App prepaid card program agreement. Cash App. Retrieved January 25, 2022, from https://cash.app/legal/us/en-us/card-agreement
  24. ↑ Cash App. (n.d.). Direct deposit. Cash App. Retrieved January 25, 2022, from https://cash.app/help/us/en-us/1113-direct-deposit
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 Cash App. (n.d.). Investing. Cash App. Retrieved January 25, 2022, from https://cash.app/help/us/en-us/5000-investing
  26. ↑ Cash App. (n.d.). Supported stocks. Cash App. Retrieved January 25, 2022, from https://cash.app/help/us/en-us/50131-supported-stocks
  27. ↑ Cash App. (n.d.). My first bitcoin and the legend of Satoshi Nakamoto. Cash App. Retrieved January 25, 2022, from https://cash.app/bitcoin
  28. ↑ Venmo. (n.d.). Fast, safe, social payments. Venmo. Retrieved February 9, 2022, from https://venmo.com
  29. ↑ Venmo. (n.d.). The fun and easy way to send, spend, and receive money. Venmo. Retrieved February 9, 2022, from https://venmo.com/about/fees
  30. ↑ O'Halloran, S. (2021, April 20). Cryptos now part of Venmo's offerings. Fox Business. Retrieved February 9, 2022, from https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/venmo-joins-paypal-in-crypto-offerings
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 31.2 Egan, J., & Foreman, D. (2021, December 7). Zelle vs. Venmo: which to use and when. Forbes. Retrieved February 9, 2022, from https://www.forbes.com/advisor/banking/zelle-vs-venmo
  32. ↑ O'Halloran, S. (2021, April 20). Cryptos now part of Venmo's offerings. Fox Business. Retrieved February 9, 2022, from https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/venmo-joins-paypal-in-crypto-offerings
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 Cortez, J. (2021, November 4). How to send and receive money using Venmo. Time. Retrieved February 9, 2022, from https://time.com/nextadvisor/credit-cards/venmo-guide
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 34.2 34.3 Gran, B., & Strohm, M. (2021, November 15). Venmo vs. PayPal: which to use and when. Forbes. Retrieved February 9, 2022, from https://www.forbes.com/advisor/banking/venmo-vs-paypal
  35. ↑ PayPal. (n.d.). Buy, sell, and hold crypto with confidence. PayPal. Retrieved February 9, 2022, from https://www.paypal.com/us/digital-wallet/manage-money/crypto
  36. ↑ PayPal. (n.d.). Get the PayPal Cash Card today. PayPal. Retrieved February 9, 2022, from https://www.paypal.com/us/digital-wallet/manage-money/paypal-debit-card
  37. ↑ Bessette, C. (2021, April 1). Top peer-to-peer payment apps: pros, cons and how to use them. NerdWallet. Retrieved February 9, 2022, from https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/banking/peer-to-peer-p2p-money-transfers
  38. ↑ PayPal. (n.d.). Buy now, pay over time with PayPal Credit. PayPal. Retrieved February 9, 2022, from https://www.paypal.com/us/webapps/mpp/paypal-credit-signin
  39. ↑ Zelle. (n.d.). Does Zelle report how much money I receive to the IRS?. Zelle. Retrieved February 9, 2022, from https://www.zellepay.com/faq/does-zelle-report-how-much-money-i-receive-irs
  40. ↑ Zelle. (n.d.). Get started with Zelle. Zelle. Retrieved February 9, 2022, from https://www.zellepay.com/get-started
  41. ↑ 41.0 41.1 41.2 Apple. (n.d.). Apple Cash. Apple. Retrieved February 9, 2022, from https://www.paypal.com/us/webapps/mpp/paypal-credit-signin
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