We gathered eight of the most popular mobile payment apps to help you decide which are best for you. Also included with Apple Pay is Apple Pay Cash, which is a way to store money on your phone on a virtual card. You can spend it through Apple Pay in stores or use it in the Messages app to pay or receive money through a text message. The Apple Pay service is secured with a PIN or with Apple’s TouchID or FaceID biometric systems. Google Pay is a digital wallet that lets you store your debit cards, credit cards, loyalty cards, coupons, gift cards, and tickets in one place. Use the Google Pay app anywhere you see the icon and order food, pay for gas, check out in stores, and more. Download For: Any payment terminal that accepts credit cards should accept Samsung Pay because the app uses magnetic secure transmission (MST) technology, which mimics the magnetic strip on a credit card. If you connect your PayPal account to Samsung Pay, you can also make purchases via PayPal. PayPal is also ideal for sending money to other users worldwide because it’s one of the most popular payment services. So chances are, many people you know already use it. There are minimal fees associated with some payments. Still, PayPal can be used free of charge to send or receive money in most cases. Another neat feature about PayPal is that you can create “money pools” to set up a way for people to pitch in to send you money. The Pool page is public for anyone to see and contribute to. Download For: Cash App is also tied to a real debit card that you can get from the company for free. With it, you can spend money directly from your Cash account like any debit card. Similar to PayPal’s Money Pool, Cash App uses Cash.me pages that make it easy for people to pay you without needing your personal information. These are real web pages that anyone can visit to pay you; they’re linked to your $Cashtag. Download For: This system sets a maximum payment limit of $299 per week until your identity is verified; then, the weekly limit rises to $2,999. Single transactions are limited to $2,000, and there’s a limit of 30 transactions per day. Payees get a text message about the amount they received, and they must register to retrieve the funds. Download For: You can use the Starbucks app to order from the coffee chain, but you can also connect a debit or credit card to your account and pay at the register. Download For: What makes Zelle unique is that money can be transferred from one bank to another in (usually) minutes. To set up Zelle if your bank isn’t supported yet, enter your debit card number into the app and choose to send or receive money from your bank. Download For:
