Transferring money back into your friend’s account, or getting money from them into yours, when one of you has paid is simple enough. But what if apps could make dividing the bill at the time, or getting the payments, even easier? They can, and they have! We’ve listed some of our favourite apps for shared payments here, and are so impressed with their smooth functionality that we hope they are someday available at our best-loved mobile casinos.
A Quick Word of Caution
Great as payment apps are, they are not without risk. Cybercrime is as real in this area as it is anywhere else, and you need to stay vigilant about it. This was clearly seen recently with Tikkie, a popular Dutch app. Fraudsters went to Marketplaats, an online marketplace, and messaged people who were selling things, saying they wanted to buy them but that they had had bad experiences in the past.
The scam artists then asked the unsuspecting vendors to make a eurocent transfer as proof that everything was legitimate. When the sellers did this, all their internet banking information was accessed by the criminals and a lot of money was lost.
The Tikkie operation was very skilled, but a clue could still have been found if people were alert enough. The first “I” in the name had been changed to a lower-case “l” in the URL; it read “Tlkkie” instead of “Tikkie”. The key here is constant vigilance, checking the URLs very carefully and only using payment apps that you’ve read about on trusted review sites. With that in mind, let’s get to the options we love.
The Shared Payment Apps We Recommend
- Splitwise: Probably the best-known payment sharing app, and worthy of its recognition and popularity. Splitwise is great for the people you often share expenses with; it keeps a running total of what everyone owes, for a while range of items and events. When you want to settle, you can make a single, simple PayPal transfer to cover everything.
- Billr: Use this the next time you eat out with friends. The app makes it simple to work out what people owe for individual items like main meals, and for shared ones such as wine. Tip and tax are added automatically, and everyone gets a copy of the bill.
- Divvy: Similar to Billr, Divvy is a good solution when you want to divide up any specific bill. Snap a picture of your receipt with your phone, then drag each item to whoever is paying for it. You don’t even have to type anything and, like Billr, the tax and tip are added automatically.
- Venmo: If you often find that you get the bill and friends pay you back, Venmo is for you. Use the app to remind people of what they owe you in a tactful way; it will simply send requests and allow the person to pay. You may never need to have the awkward conversation about money that’s still outstanding again!
- Bank of Me: Also good for friends who often cover each other, Bank of Me keeps track of who pays for what so that you do indeed come out even and one person isn’t paying significantly more than the other. You even get to do it with currencies that you make up yourself, so that it stays personal and light-hearted. Nothing’s worse than falling out over money, after all.
Image source:
https://pixabay.com/en/visa-business-buying-card-3082813/
Sources:
https://www.themuse.com/advice/5-genius-apps-for-splitting-bills-with-friends
https://www.rtlnieuws.nl/technieuws/oplichters-proberen-geld-te-stelen-via-nep-tikkie