As if there weren’t already enough ways to empty your bank account, Snapchat has gone and launched Snapcash, a new addition to the ephemeral messaging app app that lets you send money to friends in just a few taps. Snapcash has been set up in partnership with payments service Square, and can be used by anyone over 18 with a debit card and US address. In a blog post unveiling Snapcash, which is similar to other money-transfer services offered by PayPal and Venmo, Snapchat described its new feature as “fast, fun, and incredibly simple” to use.
Snapchat unveiled Snapcash on Monday, a new payments feature that allows users to send and receive money from friends through the app’s private messaging service, CEO Evan Spiegel told Re/code. The new tool is powered by payments company Square, which operates its own similar service called Square Cash that allows people to send and receive money through its Cash app or email. With Snapcash, users simply type out the dollar amount they’d like to send as part of any private message — for example, “here’s $5 for lunch.” The app recognizes the “$5” text and a green payments button illuminates next to the keyboard. Users can then tap that button to activate the payment, which is completed once the message has been sent. As Snapchat’s partner, Square will be responsible for storing all user bank and debit card information, Spiegel says, meaning none of the personal financial information from Snapchat users will reside on Snapchat servers. When a user signs up for Snapcash, they’ll be creating a Square Cash account at the same time and agreeing to Square’s terms of service, according to Square spokesperson.
