Square Cash unveils ‘request’ feature for collecting money over email

We all have that mooch friend that always neglects to pay us back or contribute their fair share.

Square introduced a new feature to Square Cash today that enables you to request money from anyone else via email. No longer must we operate in the realm of passive-aggressive text messages and awkward conversations to get friends to pay up.

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Now all you have to do to request money is enter an email address, cc “request@square.com,” put the dollar amount in the subject, and hit send. The recipient then enters their debit information on a Square Cash page and can email you back the money. To cash out, you enter your own account information, and the funds will be deposited within 2 days.

You can also use the feature while replying to a group thread to request money from multiple people at once. Square Cash has tools for customers to check the status of a requested payment to see who has paid and who still owes money. This could make collecting money for group excursions decidedly less like herding cats.

Square began testing Cash in May and opened it up to the public in October. With the service, you can send money to someone by writing the dollar amount in the subject line of an email and copying a Square address in the message. Once your friend gets the note, they can enter their debit account number and instantly receive the cash

Neither party needs to sign up for any special accounts and there are no surprising fees. It is free.

PayPal, Venmo (now owned by PayPal), and Google all have money-transfer products that aim to make the process simple and convenient, but they still involve multiple steps. While Square Cash seemed simpler and more convenient than its rivals, VentureBeat’s Devindra Hardawar said it could raise trust concerns.

“Square Cash requires a new level of faith that average users will have to accept,” he said. “With Square Cash, we may end up seeing how too much simplicity could end up being a bigger problem for usability.”

The same principle applies to requesting money as to sending it. It is easy to send someone a money request email, but that doesn’t mean they will feel comfortable paying that way.

You can also send and receive money through the Square Cash iOS and Android apps.

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