MOBILE MONEY

HOW DO APPLE CASH, VENMO & PAYPAL STACK UP?

- ASHLEIGH PAGE

Gone are the days of fishing through your pockets for loose change and bills to pay your portion of the restaurant bill, taxi fare, or shared gift. With a few quick taps, mobile payment apps allow you to send a couple of bucks (or much more) to cover shared expenses and pay for products. I've tested five leading digital payment methods: PayPal, Apple Cash, Venmo, Facebook Pay, and Square Cash. How did these heavyweights stack up? To cover this, we'll dive into which payment methods are the most trusted and secure, how much the transfer fees are costing you, and who shares your personal information with third-party data collectors.

PAYPAL

With more than 425 million users, PayPal dominates the digital payment scene and is the most versatile payment system. It is the fifth-most accepted form of payment following American Express, Visa, MasterCard, and Discover. With PayPal, you can make payments from your computer browser, transfer money using your PayPal mobile app, and use it as a secure payment method for in-person and online shopping.

With buyer protection, encrypted transactions, and a host of additional security features, PayPal is one of the most trusted intermediaries for secure payments. If you can make an online purchase with PayPal, I recommend doing so to avoid entering your credit or debit card. While sending money via a linked bank account is free, PayPal does charge a domestic fee of 2.9 percent of your transfer amount for a debit or credit card, plus a $0.30 fixed fee per transaction. So, if you use PayPal, link a bank account to avoid the associated costs.

VENMO