Everyone should know and be in possession of the 10 best mobile payment apps listed below. These apps make it easy for anyone from any part of the world to pay for purchases, or to split bills easily.
Make payments using your mobile phone
There are many benefits to using these tools. Imagine you’re at the store, you’ve bought everything you need to buy but you can’t find your credit or debit card. What will you do? Turn to payment apps if you have one of them on your device. You must have already linked your cards so you don’t have a problem paying when the card is sitting at home.
You pay with an app in two easy ways:
- Tap your phone rather than swipe a credit card
- Pay by displaying a code that the cashier can scan
Before we go further, let’s examine the top 10 payment apps out there.
1. Google Pay
The first app on this list is from Google LLC, the company on top internet technology. This app is also known as GPAY. It is one of the best payment apps because using it makes it very easy to pay on the go. With this tool, you’re able to manage your account online and also protect your financial information.
Features
- Pay for goods and services
- Send and receive money or split bills
- Find offers and earn rewards
- Store digital items in the app
- Get insights about your money
- Manage your information, security, and privacy
However nice the app is, it is not available worldwide. Only users from the United States and Singapore can use it. You should be happy to know that Google Pay doesn’t store your information, and the transactions are very fast. The app has more than 100 million installs as we write this.
2. Apple Pay
Apple has provided a tool for making and receiving payments online. The app helps users quickly pay for goods and services as well. It is a nice way to replace physical items such as credit and debit cards. Users can make payments in person, in iOS apps, and also on the web through the use of Safari. It can’t be used on Android or on Windows. It is only compatible with iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad, and Mac. The app is available in multiple countries including the United States and South Africa. Buyers will need to authenticate the sale either through Face ID or Touch ID.
Features
- Contactless payment available at retailers
- Information is stored in a secure enclave fully encrypted
- Two-factor authentication makes security stronger
- Card information is never shared with merchants
- Disable features through Apple’s “Find My”
Download Android | iOS
3. PayPal
PayPal Mobile is the organization behind this app. The company is known for being the granddaddy of payments. It is also regarded as the safest means of making online transactions. This is perhaps the most popular payment app ever because it is available in over 200 countries. Since it is the pioneer in online payments, it is the most preferred in 2022. It is also fast and quick when in use. There are those who use it for generosity purposes such as when people donate to a cause online.
Features
- PayPal offers 180-day buyer protection
- Users enjoy return shipping
- Users are able to send money to anyone anywhere making use of linked accounts
- You can send a reminder to other users for receiving payments
- The instant notification shows you your transaction history
- No fees are attached when transferring money to friends and family
- It charges a currency conversion fee
Other benefits include the following:
- Get exclusive deals tailored to you personally
- Earn cashback when you make transactions
- Multiply your rewards if you can
More advantages come as users can now check out cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, although there are more.
4. Samsung Pay
This app was created by Samsung Electronics, the company known for the latest innovations in mobile technology. This app is more than just a payment app or mobile wallet. Make purchases and earn rewards. Samsung Pay allows the user to add credit and debit cards, even other cards so that they can make mobile payments at any location they find themselves. It creates a unique random set of numbers via tokenization. Here’s a tool that makes your smartphone a secure digital wallet. Users are able to see discounts and coupon notifications from merchants that could be in the demographics of the mobile phone.
Features
- The tokenization adds an extra layer of security
- Get extra reward points for each transaction
- It is accepted in a growing number of places
- You can erase your information through the Find My Mobile (must be activated prior) app when the smartphone stolen
The drawback to the app is that it doesn’t work for all Samsung phones. A detailed list of Samsung phones that can use the app can be found here.
Download Android | iOS
5. Circle Pay
This is the new shape of money. Created by Kampcoe Properties LLC, Circle Pay proves to be an easy app for anyone’s use. It offers quick deposits and people across all walks of life can make use of it. The app is available for use in 29 countries, and it accepts payments in US dollars, British pounds, and euros. It is free to make payments between currencies. This app can’t be used as means of mobile payment in stores or on websites, nor can the user make split payments.
Features
- There exists a group that has up to 20 people
- The deposited USD are FDIC insured
- Two-level encryption increases the security measures
- You can also see currency exchange rates in the app
- The user can set up fingerprint ID and Face ID
- It is easy to send money like a text message
Download Android | iOS
6. Xoom – Money Transfer
Xoom claims to be a PayPal service and that makes everything else about it interesting. Of course, it is one of the easiest ways for someone to make international money transfers. Yes, you heard right. So, if you want to send money to family members and friends abroad, this is an excellent way to do so. It is a good way to securely send money directly to other banks. It doesn’t matter if you’re abroad, you can load up on your phone and pay utility bills at home. It is a good means of remembering a friend’s details whenever you want to send money. Just slide to resend and pick the person’s name to send money again. It is amazing that you can send money to contacts that don’t even have Xoom or PayPal accounts. And of course, you’re able to send money to the most distant parts of the world where PayPal already reaches.
Features
- You can reload your phone with funds within minutes
- Send or receive money instantly
- It offers easy international P2P transfers
- Higher transfer limits are available
- It offers secures online transactions
7. Venmo
Venmo is another product from PayPal, Inc. Over 83 million users are satisfied with the services they get from the app. No doubt, with that figure, it proves to be one of the most popular payment apps in the world. However, it is good to note that this app really doesn’t work like PayPal. That also adds to the reliability it offers to users worldwide. Send and receive money from family members and friends. You may also integrate it with Facebook, and when you do, your Facebook friends can be invited to create a Venmo app.
You are free to transfer money using options debit, credit, or bank accounts. Save your balance in the app for future transaction ease. If you don’t want to do that, simply transfer them to your bank account. The app is good for split payments, there’s no charge to send money with the app.
Features
- It is quick to transfer money from the app into your bank account
- Your personal information is completely encrypted
- You are free to use several payment methods
- If the phone gets lost, go to Venmo.com and remove sessions using the security settings
- When you connect with friends, you can share your buying experience
You can buy Bitcoin with as little as one dollar. You may buy, hold and sell your crypto on the app. And if the user wants, he can create a business profile for his side gig on the app.
8. Zelle
Early Warning Services, LLC has shown the world how money moves. It appears to be the best payment app to send money to people who live in the United States of America. This app is able to transfer money straight into people’s bank accounts. It also means that you may start the process from your app which also is connected to your bank account. It works directly with the following banks:
- Chase
- Bank of America
- Citi
- S Bank
- Wells Fargo
Do you need to send same-day transfers? These banks are able to handle that correctly. Users may receive money even without installing the app first. If your bank offers Zelle, then you already have it on your mobile device or online. However, the best way to get started is by downloading the app and thereafter connecting your bank account. You can’t use this app if you don’t live in the USA.
Features
- You don’t need to pay any money to send or receive money
- Link only one bank account with the app at a time
- You can’t hold money with it as there’s no wallet in it for this purpose
9. Square Cash
People also know this app as Cash App, a product of Square, Inc. this tool is unique with its offering of peer-to-peer payments. As such, it is one of the best ways to send and receive money. People use it to split payments among friends or to pay rent. It draws funds from a linked bank account or through a debit card at no cost at all to the one making the payment.
Features
- It is safe
- It is fast
- And it is free
- It protects your payment with a pin or fingerprint
- The wallet feature works like that of PayPal
- Funds can’t be held in a digital wallet
- Users may buy and sell Bitcoin in-app
- Get an instant discount with a cash boost
- Receive your paycheck about two days earlier
10. Alipay
This app is developed by Alipay (Hangzhou) Technology Co. Ltd, and was launched way back in 2013. The app is only available to Chinese users, yet it is one of the most popular apps out there, being used by over 100 million people who make use of it to transfer funds daily. Overall, it has about 420 million user base. What makes it better is that both Android and iOS users can download and make use of the app. You can order food from a restaurant or hail a taxi with this app. The main thing to do with this app is to send and receive money. It works with the following:
- China CITIC Bank credit card, Visa, Master Card
- The credit card offered by any Chinese bank
- Loyalty cards
- Discount vouchers
Features
- Use it to select local restaurants, share information, receive discounts, and pay bills
- Users can keep track of government service
- Get involved in peer-to-peer payments
- Social functionality now added in 2022
- It supports NFC, sound waves, QR, and bar code payments
Conclusion
You have seen a variety of payment apps in this article. They are not the only ones but these apps command the attention of millions of users worldwide. Even where the use is restricted to one country, as in the use of Alipay, there are so many users on it that we can’t relegate it to the background. Which one is the best among them? No one can really tell as one app may get more favor from a person, and another person detests the app for reasons that he likes it.
Also note that some of the apps above don’t offer online payments, yet you could make use of them to order food. Have you found the main reason for using an app over and over again? That reason may be the sole reason you find yourself login into the app every time.
