Guide to Smartphone Mobile Payment Apps
Are you getting everything you need from your mobile plan?
Picture this:
You're in line at the grocery store. You've been shopping for a long time trying to pull together the dinner of a lifetime for your family and it's time to get home and make the meal. You bring your groceries to the cashier and prepare to pay and it hits you: you don't have your wallet!
Now you don’t have to worry about a forgotten or misplaced wallet, because smartphones have the ability to house your credit cards on your phone. With apps and smartphone-specific applications, you can link your bank account to your smartphone to be able to pay on the go. Optimum Mobile has all of the information that you need to get started with mobile payments.
Modern smartphones make it incredibly easy to pay for stuff, whether you're buying lunch or sending someone money. Certain smartphones have the feature built right in, allowing you to store multiple credit and debit cards so that you can leave home without your wallet. Mobile payment apps make paying people back or splitting a dinner bill incredibly simple. Let's take a look at some of the most popular mobile payment apps
Apple Pay
If you own an iPhone, you’ve probably noticed the Apple Pay app. You can scan and upload your credit and debit cards to the app and use them to shop in-store, online and on other apps./p>
Fees
Apple Pay does not have any fees, whether you’re buying in-store, online, or in an app.
Payment Limits
Apple Pay itself does not have any payment limits. However, be sure to pay attention to any limits on your credit or debit cards. Those still apply.
Use in Physical Stores
When you're out and about, look for the Apple Pay symbol on the card reader and , double click the side button on your iPhone. Use Face ID to unlock your cards and hold your phone over the reader. Your phone will vibrate when your purchase is complete.
Your credit and debit cards are stored in your Apple Wallet, which can also hold concert tickets, airline boarding passes and public transit cards like New York's Metrocard or Washington's SmarTrip. The public transit feature is available in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York City, Washington, Chicago, and Portland, Ore.
Security
For safety and privacy purposes your transactional information and card numbers aren't stored on the phone. The app uses transactional codes and device-specific numbers, instead of your personal information. The only information stored is used for troubleshooting and fraud prevention.
Samsung Pay
With Samsung Pay, you can pay in-person, in your apps, or online, wherever, whenever. You can even earn cash back and rewards through Samsung Pay. Samsung supports over 1000 banks and credit unions. Users can upload their debit, credit, gift, and membership cards to the smartphone app. Take a picture of the card or the barcode and you're ready to start shopping. Instead of typing out your card information every time you make an in-app or online purchase, with Samsung Pay you can use a pin code, finger scan, or iris scan to pay right away.
Fees
Samsung Pay does not have any fees, whether you’re buying in-store, online, or in an app.
Payment Limits
Samsung Pay does not have any payment limits.
Use in Physical Stores
Samsung Pay can be used at any store that accepts contactless payment. Simply open the app, move your phone toward the NFC reader, and follow the instructions. Samsung Pay also supports public transit, tap to ride in New York City, Chicago, and Portland, Ore.
Samsung Pay also has a physical and digital credit card by SoFi called Samsung Money. With the card you can pay from wherever you are in the world and earn Samsung rewards every time you pay with Samsung Pay. There are no account fees or in-network ATM fees. And you can get discounts on Samsung products.
Security
Samsung Pay secures your info in several ways. It substitutes a token for your credit or debit card number, so no card numbers are stored on your phone. Transactions need to be authorized via a PIN number, fingerprint scan or iris scan. If the app detects multiple failures to authorize a payment, it erases all card data. The phone itself is also monitored for signs of attacks or other intrusions by Samsung Knox.
Google Pay
Like Apple Pay and Samsung Pay, Google Pay is a digital wallet app. You can store credit and debit cards, along with concert, movie, and public transportation tickets, boarding passes, and even college campus ID cards. Compared to Apple and Samsung Pay, Google Pay is much more widely available. There's a Google Pay app for Android and iOS. The iOS version doesn't support contactless payments, you'll need to use Apple Pay to pay in-store.
Fees
Google Pay has no fees, and you won’t pay extra when using it for transactions.
Payment Limits
Google Pay does not have any payment limits. Like Apple and Samsung Pay, any existing payment limits on stored cards still apply.
Use in Physical Stores
Any store that accepts contactless payments will accept Google Pay. You can use Google Pay to pay for public transit fares in New York City, Portland, Miami, Chicago, Las Vegas, San Francisco and Washington.
Security
Google Pay encrypts all of your information, and does not use your card number during transactions. It uses a PIN, fingerprint scan or iris scan for authorization and monitors your payments for fraudulent activity.
PayPal
PayPal is one of the largest online payment companies in the world, and their app reflects that. It's packed with features. You can manage your PayPal account, store cards, pay bills, send money, and make purchases online and in-store. You can also manage your savings and buy cryptocurrencies.
Fees
PayPal charges a 2.9% fee when you send money via a credit card. There's also a fee of 1.5% to instantly withdraw money from your PayPal balance.
Payment Limits
PayPal limits the amount of money you can withdraw to your bank account and credit card. For bank accounts, the limit is $25,000 per transaction. For cards, it's $5,000 per transaction, day or week (whichever comes first) and $15,000 per month.
Use in Physical Stores
You can use the PayPal app to make purchases at stores that have a PayPal QR code.
Security
PayPal encrypts all transactions and monitors your account activity for fraud. The app also supports two factor authentication.
Venmo
Paying your friend for brunch has never been so easy! Link your bank account to the Venmo app and pay your friends back or send your landlord your rent, in the moment. Set privacy settings to limit the people who can see your transactions. "Public" so everyone can see it, "Friends" for just friends to see, or "Private" so the person you're sending or receiving money from is the only person to see the transaction. There is a 3% fee if you are sending money through a credit card account. And you can go shopping with your Venmo balance (the amount of money people have sent you in the app) with a Venmo Mastercard.
Fees
There is a 3% fee if you are sending money through a credit card account. There are also fees of between 1% and 5% if you want to quickly add money via a check or instantly transfer money to your bank account.
Payment Limits
If you’ve verified your identity with Venmo, your combined weekly spending limit is $6,999.99. $4,999.99 of that can be person-to-person transactions, while the full $6,999.99 can be used for authorized merchant and Venmo Mastercard payments. For the last two, there is a per-transaction limit of $2,999.99. Accounts without a verified identity have a spending limit of $299.99.
Use in Physical Stores
To shop in-store with Venmo, a store needs to have a Venmo QR code. Simply scan the code with the Venmo app to make a purchase. You can also shop with your Venmo balance using a Venmo Mastercard.
Security
Venmo encrypts your information and stores it on secure servers. If you lose your phone, you can prevent it from accessing your account via the security settings on Venmo's website.
Cash App
With Cash App, you can send and receive money from friends and family, tip professionals, or donate to an important cause all within the app! Enter a phone number, $CashTag (username), or use a QR code to start the payment process. You can even get your paycheck, direct deposits, and tax returns up to 2 days early with the Cash App routing and account number. Cash App is one of the fastest ways to convert your dollars to Bitcoin and you can start investing in stocks with as little as $1.00.
Fees
Cash App charges a fee of 0.5%-1.75% for Instant Deposits, which arrive immediately on your debit card. Standard deposits are free, but the money takes between 1 and 3 business days to hit your bank account. There's also a 3% transaction fee if you use a credit card to send money.
Payment Limits
Standard Cash App accounts can send up to 250$ within any 7-day period and can receive up to $1,000 within any 30-day period. You can increase those limits by going through Cash App's identity verification process.
Use in Physical Stores
Like Venmo, it is possible to pay with Cash App in-store by scanning a QR code. They also offer the Cash Card, a Visa debit card linked to your Cash App balance.
Security
Cash App encrypts all of your data and stores it on secure servers. They automatically monitor for fraud.
Just because you're now an expert on mobile pay doesn't mean you should start leaving your wallet at home. But, it does mean that you're ready for anything out there!
Are you getting everything you need from your mobile plan?