Snapchat Buys Into Peer Payment Space With Snapcash
By Melony Roy
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) --- A new trend in social networking is transferring cash to your friends, but a local cyber security expert says it's going to get competitive.
Snapchat's peer-to-peer money sharing feature, Snapcash, gives users a glimpse at the future of mobile payments. It was launched just in time for the holidays.
"Each social media company is now vying for an online transaction or financial system to keep pace with the big guns like Apple and Google," says cyber security expert Dr. Rob D'Ovidio.
Snapcash is meant to be an easy to use way to send money to friends, similar to services like PayPal. But it faces the challenge that users don't associate Snapchat with safety or security.
"They've partnered with Square, which is a payment process service that is really targeted at small businesses and consumers," D'Ovidio says.
Facebook is rumored to be also entering the payment space through its messenger app. According to TechCrunch, the feature is already hidden in the app's code.