Person 2 Person, P2P, apps are growing in popularity with the increasing use of technology in everyday activities. Less and less people are carrying cash these days, so P2P apps help friends and family split bills and pay for a variety of other services. In November of 2021 70% of US citizens were using P2P services.
What is a P2P payment service? P2P payments are transactions between two parties with separate bank accounts. A P2P service mediates these transactions by allowing consumers to send money to another person’s bank through a third-party website or mobile app. The most common services used are Zelle, Cash App, Venmo, Google Pay, Apple Pay and Paypal. As with the case of other technological conveniences, there are dangers to using these types of P2P services. The most common threats are stolen identity, consumer scams, mystery money, smishing scams, hidden credit card fraud and 2-step authentication scams.
There are ways to protect yourself and your money. It is smart to research the fraud protection policies of each P2P app before making your choice. When you choose your app, connect it to a credit card not a bank account or debit card. A credit card offers better protection when services or products are not received. Be sure to verify recipient’s details and do not send or accept P2P payments from strangers.
One way to protect yourself and your money is to create a strong password. There is a fine line between choosing a password that can’t be guessed and a password that you can remember, but thankfully there are ways to help you accomplish this.
A strong password must contain four things: 12 characters or more consisting of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, special characters, no memorable keyboard paths, no personal information and must not be shared across accounts. Another way to create a strong password is to use a passphrase instead of a password. An example of this is “I went to Florida when I was 45 and loved it”. The password could be iwtFLwIw45&<3i.
You could also play around with phrases and quotes in the same way. For example, “One for all, and all for one, “the Three Musketeers. The password could be 14A&A413Mu$keteers! You can even use emoticons to make your password stronger. They are special characters put together to create different emotions. Some examples are :), :(, =), :], :<, :D, :@, =0, :3, :!, :}, <3 and 8(.
P2P apps do not always have the zero liability guarantees that consumers expect from their credit cards and financial institutions. Sometimes once your money is gone, it can be gone for good. The P2P company should be contacted to resolve any erroneous transactions. We, Southwest Heritage CU, as your FI can try to help you dispute transactions, however, recovering your funds from these apps can be a long process, if at all possible.
Instead of using an outside app have you checked out our pay a friend service within our online banking? This easy to use and secure feature allows you to send money from your checking account to almost anyone with just an email address or a mobile phone number. Your friend will receive an email or text message alerting them that money has been sent with instructions on how to retrieve it. They can choose to use their debit card or their financial institution’s routing number and account number to accept the payment. There is no reason to shy away from using this service. Be smart and be safe.