There are many popular options for sending and receiving money between friends, family, and businesses. PayPal, Cash App, PODERcard, Zelle, Venmo, among others! To help clarify the pros and cons of each service, we’ve created a comparison guide between three of these services, comparing how affordable, expensive, fast, and secure they are. Which service is better? The one that best suits your needs. Read on and remember that you choose!
What is a payment without intermediaries (P2P payments)?
Payments made in a peer-to-peer way (P2P payments, for its abbreviation in English) are payments made without intermediaries — that is, directly from one person to another person. Zelle, PODERcard and Venmo are some of the solutions on the market that help you manage payments without intermediaries, or P2P payments. Learn about the features of each solution below.
What is Zelle?
Zelle was launched on the market in 2017, as a payment network without intermediaries available to some banks. Through Zelle, a person can send or receive payments using an email or mobile phone number.
What is POWERcard?
PODERcard was launched in 2020 as a bank account and Visa debit card for the Latino community that allows people to manage their funds from their cell phone through an application. Through its P2P payment service, users can send or receive payments using a mobile phone number.
What is Venmo?
Venmo belongs to the PayPal company, and was launched on the market in 2009 as a payment solution without intermediaries. Through its service, users can send and receive money between their contacts using an email or a mobile phone number. It is also used to pay for services to companies that accept it as a means of payment.
How do payments without intermediaries work?
Since there are many direct person-to-person payment services, knowing how they work can help you choose the best service for your needs.
How does Zell work?
Using Zelle you can make P2P payments directly between linked bank accounts. To use Zelle, the user must log in to their bank online or within an app. You can find the recipient of the payment with an email or mobile number. The process may take a bit of time as security checks are required.
How does PODERcard work?
PODERcard offers its users the option of making payments without intermediaries, from PODERcard cardholder to PODERcard cardholder. The balance of a PODERcard bank account can be replenished through other bank accounts, cash deposits and direct deposits. To make a payment, the PODERcard user must log in to the application and add a beneficiary with a mobile phone number. The process of finding and sending cash is fast — it can even take less than a minute if the recipient is already in your contact list.
How does Venmo work?
Similar to PODERcard, a Venmo user can maintain an active balance in their Venmo account. Money can be added or subtracted as you make payments and transactions. A Venmo account balance for making a P2P payment can be replenished using a US bank account, debit card, or credit card. With Venmo you can find payees by searching for them in the system by name, username, mobile phone Or email. Also, if you are physically close to the beneficiary, you can scan their QR code.
How much does it cost to make a payment without intermediaries?
In the vast majority of cases, payments without intermediaries are free. Having removed the intermediary is precisely what allows these transfers to be managed without charges.
Does using Zelle incur any fees?
The Zelle service itself is free — there are no fees or charges for moving money between linked bank accounts. However, the bank or credit union from which a Zelle account is linked may charge you fees for using the service.
Does using PODERcard generate any charges?
PODERcard’s payment service without intermediaries is free. Transfers or sending money between PODERcard cardholders will not generate charges or charges.
Does using Venmo incur any fees?
Venmo is largely a free service. Payments without intermediaries made using the balance in a Venmo account, from a bank account or from a debit card will not incur a charge. However, payments made using a credit card will incur a 3% charge. Receiving money via Venmo is completely free.
How long does it take to make a payment without intermediaries?
Almost all services offer an instant transfer option. The difference between each of the services lies in the options they offer you to dispose of your account balance.
How fast is Zelle?
In order for Zelle to work, both you and your recipient need to have accounts linked to the service. Transactions usually take just a few minutes to process. However, if the recipient is not a Zelle user, they will need to sign up to receive your payment. Delivery times can be immediate or could take up to three business days depending on the bank.
How fast is PODERcard?
As with Zelle, in the case of PODERcard it is necessary that you and also the beneficiary have active PODERcard bank accounts. Payments without intermediaries made in this way usually take a few minutes to process.
How fast is Venmo?
A payment without intermediaries via Venmo usually takes a few minutes to be reflected in the Venmo account of the beneficiary. However, when you want to have funds from a Venmo account, transferring the balance to the linked bank account usually takes about one business day.
