The days are long gone when you had to carry the hard cash for payment purposes. Life became a bit easier with the inclusion of debit and credit cards. With these cards, you can make payments on the go.
You are not required to have an account in every city you visit. Just swipe the card in the machine, and the cash will flow into your hands. But sometimes, even the card payment machines are hard to come by.
To cater to such concerns, there came the comfort of making payments through the mobile phone itself, and we all know, how extensively the mobile phones are used nowadays.
From booking a cab to order food, you can do everything through your mobile. So, why not payments. With the usage of mobile phones skyrocketing, there is a tremendous increase in mobile payments too.
According to a researched report by Statista, the mobile payment revenue recorded in 2015 was $450 billion and is expected to cross $1 trillion by 2019. Below is the graph that shows the global mobile payment revenue from 2015 to 2019.
These statistics highlight the significant jump in mobile payments.
Today, I will be telling you about the best mobile payment apps that you should try. Many of these apps are available both on iOS and Android as well, and due to this fact, the mobile app payment is fast becoming the preferred choice for many of us.
Take a look at the top ten apps that have dominated the first half of this year and can help you to make mobile payments.
You can term it as the mother of all mobile payment apps, due to its existence, which dates back to 1998. PayPal made its mark by entering into a payment partnership with eBay, the multinational e-commerce giant. After that, the company swiftly succeeded in being the number one choice for all the online payment services.
The best thing about PayPal is, you can send or transfer the money to any of your friends or family members; still, the company doesn’t charge any fee for that. But it positively charges some extra fees to send from a credit card or convert currencies.
Many of you will be surprised to know that the second-best app according to me is originally owned by PayPal. The mobile service is apt for people who are quite active on smartphones and prefer to transfer money fro the same.
Due to it, the payment app service is popular with young people, and it also ends the mess of splitting bills with friends.
Venmo lets you split even the smallest bill amount, from sharing the room rent to share the grocery bill, Venmo can do it all. Apart from this, you can also send money using your linked debit card bank account.
Interestingly, the company kicked off its venture into the domain by converting the iPhone or iPad into a card reader for the small business bouses. But soon it evolved and offered an option of transferring money to family and friends.
For unhindered services, the user of this payment app service can have their own “$Cashtag,” and through this, the other person can send the money instantaneously.
Square cash is available for both personal and business use. For better convenience, you need to have two separate accounts for your both needs. The service is available in the form of an app on iOS and Android as well. So, now you can carry the convenient payment app service in your pocket itself.
I have mentioned Apple Pay in this list due to its reliability. Sadly, the app is not available in every region, but it does offer some top of the line services. The payment app service is easy and works with all the Apple devices.
It lets you make secure purchases in stores, in apps, and on the web. Also, you can send and receive money from friends and family right in Messages.
For more convenience, the Siri is at your service. All thanks to Apple. Siri is a virtual assistant part of Apple Inc.'s iOS, watchOS, macOS, HomePod, and tvOS operating systems. It lets you transfer money by your voice commands.
The best part for Apple users is that they don’t have to download the app for making payments. They can use the cards they already have in Wallet.
Also featured in: Best Free Android Apps
Google was long trying to get into the payment services, and for it, the tech giant brought out a lot of changes in its payment app and finally, the current version seems to fulfill all the demands of being a fast and secure option.
The feature that makes it different from all the other such services is that the recipient doesn’t need the app to get the money in their account, and this option makes the app more serviceable.
The fast and simple way of transferring money through Google Pay can be managed on the web and in the app as well. It gives you the leverage of checking out and keeping the information safe and secure at the same time.
Also, you don’t have to enter the card detail information on many of the apps with Google Wallet. Connect the app with it and make the payment.
With some added benefits, the Google Wallet protects your data with multiple layers of security. Google employs one of the world’s most advanced security systems to keep the account safe.
Zelle service is another option to transfer the money on the go. For it, you need to have an account in any of the participating banks like Chase, Bank of America, Citi, U.S. Bank, Wells Fargo or Capital One. Zelle offers same-day transfers to anyone else with an account at a participating bank.
For using its services, you don’t need to download the app. Though the app is available on the app stores, as Zelle only accepts one bank account to connect, so make sure to add the primary account.
If you install the app, you will be required to enter your email or mobile number for authentication purposes. And after that, input the mobile number or the email address of the person to whom you want to transfer the money.
LevelUp is a mobile payment app service for businesses purposes based on QR codes. TO get started, attach your credit or debit card to the LevelUp code. After that, you need to get your code scanned by the other person, and the money will be transferred instantaneously.
To entice people to use this platform more, the company offers loyalty and rewards programs that add up to your credit points, which can be availed later. Also, it provides detailed analytics to the business houses that can help them to tailor-made the discount offers.
The company also has a white label LevelUp app that integrates payment capabilities into the mobile app. Unlike the branded LevelUp app, the white label LevelUp app employs NFC and Beacons to accept payments.
Facebook is already a hit among every age group, and furthermore, it aims to get into every tech domain possible. So, to stay at the front, Facebook has made its presence made in the mobile payment app services by integrating the payment services into the Facebook Manager. However, the service is not extensively used due to the existence of other popular services.
In the US, you need to be 18 years and above to use facebook’s service of transferring money. And if you are eligible for voting, add your Visa or Mastercard debit card to your Facebook account to get going. To secure your payment account, you can even add a pin for authentication purposes.
The best thing about it is that it doesn’t levy any charges on the transactions. When you send the money, the recipient can see your name and profile photo, apart from receiving the money.
So, these are the best mobile payment apps that can come in handy while making mobile payments or money transfers. If you are still not familiar with any of these apps, I firmly suggest you to start learning the basics of these apps because the concept of hard cash is going to vanish soon.
Vikram is an experienced wunderkind, who embraced technology at a very early age, and today he is at the helm of it. Mobile apps are something that excites him the most, and now he is up to give this vertical the best shot. He routinely catches up with the new apps and comes up with the top apps that can excite you to the core.
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