Dive Brief:
- Cash App has launched payment links, enabling users to request funds using links sent via text, email, social media and messaging apps, the Block subsidiary announced Tuesday.
- Instead of typing in a user’s Cash App handle, users can generate a custom link that can be shared anywhere. When the recipient clicks the link, Cash App will open a pre-filled payment with an amount and a note to pay the requester, the release said.
- Block is offering the payment links for Cash App personal and Cash App Business accounts, per the press release.
Dive Insight:
Cash App released its payments link feature in response to younger customers’ awkwardness surrounding payment requests. A 2024 survey commissioned by the company found that over half (53%) of Gen Z respondents send a reminder request via text before sending a payment request. Nearly half (49%) send a follow-up message after sending the initial request, the survey found.
“We’ve heard from our customers that sending in-app payment requests and push notifications can sometimes come across overly formal or even passive-aggressive,” Kristen Anderson, peer-to-peer and networks product lead at Cash App, said in the press release. “Payment links solve this by allowing customers to send requests through whichever platform feels most natural so that they can add context, levity or humor to the conversation.”
Cash App’s release of its payment link comes months after PayPal Holdings introduced a similar feature.
In September, the digital payments giant began rolling out payment links to U.S. customers, before offering them in the U.K., Italy, and other countries the following month. In addition to fiat currency, PayPal links allow users to send Bitcoin, Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies.
The payment link rollout this week follows a series of other updates Cash App has unveiled in recent months.
In November, the company launched multiple updates to its platforms, including new parental controls, Bitcoin features, and an AI-powered Moneybot tool that provides information on account balances, transactions, and other updates. The company also began offering short-term loans last year to users via its Cash App Borrow feature.
