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Banking is changing all over the world, and one of the players in this current wave of finance tech is Cash App. You might’ve heard of it, but what do you actually get out of it? We’ll explain.
What’s Cash App?
Cash Appstarted out life in 2013 as Square Cash, the customer companion app to the business-focused Square point-of-sales ecosystem. Since then, Square, co-founded by Jim McKelvey and prolific Silicon Valley character Jack Dorsey, has become Block, Inc. In addition to Square and Cash App, the firm also owns hi-fi music streaming service Tidal and runs research on blockchain technologies and cryptocurrency advancement. Since its inception, it’s been competing in the US against Venmo (which got acquired by PayPal the same year) in offering digital peer-to-peer payments. Over time, though, it and other fintech apps have added new features such as fractional stock trading and even tax preparation.
What can you do with Cash App?
The Cash app offers several services and features in the US:
Cash App is also available in the UK, but only for peer-to-peer payments. Users from either country can send money to recipients in the other country without a fee.
We’ll try to paint bigger pictures for each of these services and nail down some details you might have questions about.
If you want a Cash App account in the US, you’ll need to download the free app for Android or iPhone from either thePlay Storeor theApp Storeand follow the instructions as they’re laid out:
After you do that, you may also log into your new account throughthe Cash App websiteand perform some of the functions available through the app.
How to send or request money with Cash App
If you have money to send to someone else on Cash App, here’s how you do it:
Once a request is complete, it will send a notification to the intended payer prompting them to pay you through the app. On the other hand, after tapping “Pay,” you will have the option to send the value of your payment as currency, a gift card, stock, or Bitcoin. There is no fee for any payment type.
The app may display a warning prompt if you’re exchanging money with someone new who is not in your contacts. You have the option to review their profile, confirm to proceed, or cancel the transaction. You will be asked to review and confirm the transaction itself once you’ve put in all the details.
How to transfer money to or from a Cash App account
If you don’t already have funds in your account, you won’t be able to make payments with your Cash App account until you have linked up a bank account or debit card.
Cash App prefers you link a debit card to facilitate instant fund transfers, but you can also choose to link up your bank account instead or as an additional option.
To link a bank account without a debit card:
You will go through a setup flow provided by Stripe, a digital interconnect platform for financial institutions. It will involve looking up your bank, logging into your online account, and clearing any requested security measures.
After linking a card or account to Cash App:
You can set up recurring deposits into your Cash App account.
Can I deposit and withdraw real cash from a Cash App account?
Unless you use the Cash App Cash Card, you aren’t able to withdraw cash directly from your account. You may, however, deposit cash directly into your Cash App account through a feature called Paper Money. The service is facilitated via a third party called VanillaDirect.
Paper Money deposits are accepted at locations of some big-name retail chains including 7-Eleven, Dollar General, Family Dollar, Rite Aid, Sheetz, Speedway, Walgreens, and Walmart.
To perform a Paper Money deposit:
You may deposit between $5 and $500 per transaction with a 7-day cap of $1,000 and a 30-day cap of $4,000. Each transaction costs $1.
What’s the deal with the Cash App Cash Card?
The Cash App Cash Card allows you to make purchases wherever Visa debit cards are accepted whether it’s online or at brick-and-mortar locations. A physical card can take up to ten business days to be delivered, but you can also register your card credentials with Apple Pay, Google Wallet, or Samsung Pay and begin using your Cash Card immediately on mobile payment terminals and online. You must be 18 or older (13 or older with parental consent) to receive a Cash Card. The card is issued by Sutton Bank of Ohio.
Cash Card users are limited to making $7,000 worth of transactions in one day, $10,000 in a calendar week, and $15,000 in a calendar month. Any attempted transaction, whether approved or declined, goes toward these usage limits.
ATM transactions
All ATM transactions whether it’s deposits or withdrawals are tagged with a $2.50 fee from Cash App. That is in addition to any fee charged by an out-of-network ATM operator. If you have set up a direct deposit of $300 or more per month, you can make fee-free transactions at Allpoint-branded ATMs and select others. You can find the nearest eligible ATM by:
You may also withdraw money for free by requesting cash back wherever they’re allowed. These transactions do count towards your ATM withdrawal limit of $1,000 per week. This limit resets every Saturday at 7pm Central Time.
How to trade stocks or Bitcoin with Cash App
Investing in stocks and Bitcoin is amazingly easy with Cash App. In fact, Cash App itself provides the brokerage service. It charges fees when placing buy and sell orders. You must be 18 or older to trade securities.
If you perform day trades (buying and selling a stock on the same day), you are limited to three in a rolling five trading day period. You can also earn Bitcoin by making a particiating purchase with a Cash Card. Open the Cash Card tab in the app and look for the “Boost” section to see what purchases will get you some free cryptocurrency.
How to file taxes with Cash App Taxes
Cash App offers free federal and state tax preparation in the United States.
Cash App acquired its tax preparation business from Credit Karma in 2021. The company does not participate in the IRS’s FreeFile program which requires participating services to place limits on their applicant pool - there’s no difference if you receive a W-2, 1099, or both and no cap on how much you’ve earned in a year to file with Cash App for free. It is able to offer free preparation by taking some of your filing information and requesting quotes for personal loans from a number of servicers, earning extra revenue for successful referrals. If you’re concerned about your data being circulated to different third parties, you’ll want to consult Cash App Taxesprivacy policyandterms of service.
