How to Choose the Right Payment App

Using PayPal, Venmo, Zelle and other apps is convenient, but there are pros and cons to each.

- LISA GERSTNER

WHETHER SPLITTING A RESTAURANT BILL WITH FRIENDS, PAYING THE PET sitter or tipping your barber, there’s a good chance you’ve found yourself using a peer-to-peer payment app—or at least considering it. In mid-2021, PayPal reported a 41% increase in payment volume over the past year for its peer-to-peer transfer businesses. One of them is Venmo, which saw a 58% increase on its own platform.

PayPal, Venmo, Zelle, Cash App and others make it easy to send and receive money. You link your bank account, debit card or credit card to the app, so you don’t have to swap sensitive financial-account information with the other person in a transaction. Instead, you share details such as a user name, an e-mail address or a phone number. Usually, transfers arrive quickly in the recipient’s app balance, though moving the funds from the app to a bank account fee-free may take a few days.

But peer-to-peer (or “P2P”) apps can also leave you more vulnerable to fraud. They’re an increasingly popular target for scammers who, for instance, trick users into sending money for goods or services that never materialize. Or a crook may pose as someone you know and request funds from you. Unfortunately, you may never get back money lost in such scams because you made the payment yourself. The app companies “take the position that you are not protected,” says Lauren Saunders, associate director of the National Consumer Law Center. But, she says, it’s worth asking the company to reverse the transfer if you’ve been scammed.