Easy to Use, Mobile Payment Apps Are Also Easy to Misuse

 

Easy to Use, Mobile Payment Apps Are Also Easy to Misuse

While they have taken steps to help prevent mishaps, a new report finds they offer few protections if, for instance, users accidentally send money to the wrong person.

By Ann Carrns, writing for The New York Times

 "Services like Venmo and Zelle let people pay others or receive payments almost instantly, with a few taps on their phone. To use them, you typically download the app and link it to a bank account or credit card" 

"But while they’re fast and easy, the apps can have serious drawbacks. Users can lose money if they accidentally pay the wrong person, mis-type a dollar amount or succumb to a fraud or a scam that tricked them into making a payment." 

Consumer Reports "determined that none of the four popular payment apps — Apple Cash, Cash App, Venmo and Zelle — reimburse users when a payment is mistakenly sent to the wrong person, because such transactions are considered 'authorized.'"

"Apps also wouldn’t compensate clients if a criminal tricked them into sending money."

Advice:

“Slow down when using the apps,” said Rachel Gittleman, financial services outreach manager for the Consumer Federation of America.It's easy to mis-type.

Before hitting send, "confirm the recipient’s user name, phone number or email address." “Double, triple and quadruple check” that you are sending the money to the right person.

It’s also wise to send a small “test” payment — say, $1 — and confirm the correct person received it before sending a large sum.