You Can Now Send Cash to Friends Using Skype
Now, when you buy tickets for a concert for a team, there is no excuse for your friends (other than lack of money) not to refund your money immediately. There are many different options for sending money to friends. Services like Venmo, Square Cash, Apple Pay, and Facebook can get the job done in a matter of seconds, and now another popular service has added this feature: Skype. Thanks to a new partnership with PayPal, Skype users can now send money to friends using the service via the mobile app.
While this is unlikely to replace Venmo or Square for your daily money transfers, I see it comes in handy when you need to send money to a friend overseas.
For this feature to work, you need to be using the latest version of the Skype mobile app. Payments can be sent to friends and family in 22 different countries, and transferring money is free if you use your PayPal balance or connected debit card. The cost of credit transactions is USD 30 per transaction + 3.4% of the total. If your friend is in another country, you will have the option to send him in his own currency.
Payments are made by swiping right in the app and selecting Send Money. You will need a PayPal account to use this feature, and the first time you decide to try it, you will need to link your Skype and PayPal accounts together.
Your recipient does not need to be using the latest version of Skype, but they must have a PayPal account. If they don’t, they will be prompted to open one to receive your payment. Outside the US, the feature is available in Canada, UK (Jersey, Guernsey, Isle of Man), Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain.
Fun Fact: Skype offered the ability to pay your friends via PayPal back in 2007, although back then (the year the first iPhone was released) it was only for desktop users.
PayPal is actually the owner and power of Venmo, which is arguably the most popular way to send cash to my personal group of friends. Before we faced app pressure on the Venmo train, I preferred to use Square Cash to send money. I loved that the money was instantly credited to my account, often even before the waitress could come and take my credit card to pay the bill. Since Venmo (and PayPal, including Skype integration) works like a bank account, the money you send will remain in your recipient’s account until he or she withdraws it.
Depending on your friend, this rejection option can be a blessing or a curse. I definitely have a few friends who use their Venmo accounts as a kind of savings account for future evenings. When you talk about getting a large amount of money back, such as expensive concert tickets from a large group of friends, that withdrawal requirement could mean that the person who pays has to provide everyone with a huge loan for a few days, even if they “Come back” a few seconds after the purchase. This is annoying. However, if you are already sending money to friends overseas or elsewhere via PayPal, this might make the process a little easier.