Square Cash - Use at your own risk

I recently ran into an issue where Square Cash took actions that ended up making me lose money.  Basically I was sending the $ back and forth to hit $50 total, and they decided to cancel all the incoming transactions.  The other person claims they didn't get the money either, so either Square Cash is lying or they are - either way Square Cash should have left the transactions alone, or cancelled them all - by choosing to only cancel the ones TO me I lost $50.

Of course their support is not helpful - you can't reach them on the phone, and via email they just give you the same pre-canned answered or don't seem to understand the issue.  Bottom line they told me to either try to resolve it with the person, or dispute the charges with my bank.  Of course some of the money was from my Cash App balance - so I can't dispute it with the bank leaving me out of options since Square Cash will not help me recover my loss.

To top it all off, they just advised me of the following:

"Our Account Services team conducted a review of your account and determined it to be high-risk. We are exercising our right under the Square Cash Agreement and have elected to deactivate your account."

Apparently having $50 taken from you then being a vocal customer who actually contacts their support about an issue they caused is "high-risk" because I know I didn't do anything else with my account that would be an issue.

"For security purposes, we cannot divulge further details regarding your account termination and our decision is final."

Well of course they wouldn't explain this decision, I am sure they don't have a good explanation and don't need one all they have to do is deactviate my account and I am out of luck.

Oh and to top it all off, I had pending referrals so that is another $10 per person they robbed me of.

So bottom line here, I no longer recommend Square Cash.  If you have problems they may not help you, and if you dare complain they will just deactivate your account apparently.  They need better customer service, like T-Mobile or Amazon -- companies that actually care about their customers as customers and not just profit.

Go here ( http://bigboystoys13.blogspot.com/2016/12/money-transfer-apps.html ) for alternate options, personally Circle Pay and Google Wallet are my favorites.

NOTE: This is just my opinion, make your own decision.

T-Mobile DIGITS Beta

I signed up for the T-Mobile DIGITS Beta, and will update this blog post as I play around with it.

Initial Setup - I started off with the option of just using one number (my main one on a S7 Edge) on multiple devices.  I setup the T-Mobile DIGITS software on my LG tablet.  I used another phone ( non-T-Mobile ) for some of the testing.

Once everything was setup, I started to do a few tests.

Text Messaging

1) I sent a message from the non-T-Mobile phone to my number linked to DIGITS.  The message showed up on my S7E as normal and showed up on the LG tablet in the DIGITS app.

2) I responded from my LG tablet to the non-T-Mobile phone, and that worked fine.  I responded from my S7 and it took a minute or two for the response to finally show up on the non-TMobile phone.  The next test from the S7 to the non-T-Mobile phone worked much quicker, and the LG tablet showed the response too.

So far it seems like responses from the DIGITS app on the LG do not get sync'd over to the S7, but if you respond on the S7 it does show up on the LG.  I currently see this as a disadvantage when compared to Google Voice / Hangouts, which syncs the messages across both devices.

Calling

1) I called from the non-T-Mobile phone to the DIGITS number, and both devices rang.

2) I answered on the LG tablet using DIGITS app, it seemed to work fine.

3) I noticed a "switch device" option, when I pressed it two options showed up "No name" and "Sim Device".  I tried "Sim Device" and my S7 rang again.

So bottom line the tablet was able to answer the call, and hand off to the phone which was pretty cool.

Money Transfer Apps

Lately I have been playing around with various money transfer apps, so I figured I would share some thoughts on each one.  For the most part, they have the same basic features - send money, get money, and put it in your bank.  One important note - these apps mainly work with the concept of getting money from family/friends, some of these will charge a fee or have other requirements if you use it for business.

22 Feb 2022 Update: 

PayPal - This is a classic, not really going to focus on it - chances are you have heard of it.  It does have protections and customer service you can talk to, which are important.

Google Wallet - Another one that has been around for a while.  It gets the job done, and lately they added a feature that allows you to instantly put the money on your debit card without a fee.  So far, no other apps do that free - Square Cash can do it, for a fee.

22 Feb 2022 Update: Google Wallet is now GPay, you can still transfer to your bank for free but a faster withdraw to debit card now has a fee.

Venmo - This is actually owned by PayPal.  I really didn't notice any unique features that stood out, other than the social aspect.  When you pay or request money, you have to put in a note and by default that is a public comment.  If you get bored you can scroll through random payments and see some funny / awkward comments.

Square Cash ( also called Cash App ) - Based on my experiences with this company I do not recommend them.

22 Feb 2022 Update: Circle Pay is no longer in service.

Circle Pay - This application seems to have the normal functions, but does have a few that set it apart:

• Send money via US Dollars, British Pounds, or Euros.
• Earn $ via referrals

At the end of the day, most people are going to use whatever is considered popular among their social group - no point having a way to transfer money if there is no one to use it with!

If you decide to try Circle Pay, make sure you read my posts on how to get your referral money.

Bank Alternatives

So this post is straying a bit from my normal posts, but lines up with my recent ones and I still think it is a bit "geeky" since Simple has a smartphone app.  As I talked with people about Square Cash and Circle, I ran into a surprising amount of people who simply did not have a bank account.  Some of them used prepaid options, but not a traditional bank account.

NOTE: 12 Feb 2022 Update - Simple has closed down.  SoFi Money is a good alternative to consider.

$25 from SoFi Money - You can save, spend, and earn interest—all in one account. Use my link to sign up and you’ll get a $25 bonus. Referral link: https://www.sofi.com/invite/money?gcp=baf027eb-93db-453b-a474-fe7aae805180

Of course the easy option is to go to a local bank and open an account, but I wanted to share some alternatives to consider:

1) If you prefer a place you can walk into, look into credit unions.  They typically offer the same services as a bank but due to how they operate they normally have less fees and better rates.  You can read up on credit unions here ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_union ) and start looking for one here ( http://mapping.ncua.gov/ ).  Also, just search Google for "why are credit unions better" and you will find plenty of articles.

2) If you are ok doing "online only" banking, you can look into Simple.  I personally have been using the Simple card ( www.simple.com ) so I am comfortable recommending it.  Here are the main things I like about Simple:

- No fees ( https://www.simple.com/features/no-fees )
- Features to help you budget
- Smartphone app
- You can get your paycheck via direct deposit
- Works with online money transfer options like Venmo, Square Cash and Circle.
- Sign up using my referral link ( https://simple.com/friends/BRYN323 ) and get a free wallet.  See here for more details ( https://www.simple.com/referrals ).

I hope someone finds this information useful.

If you want to see freebies/offers, go here:
http://bigboystoys13.blogspot.com/2016/11/get-some-free-stuff-or-free-money.html