The P2P (person to person, or peer to peer) economy makes possible the transfer of funds from one person’s account directly into another person’s account.
The P2P industry is estimated to be a $120 Billion annually, with companies competing for every dollar of your mobile payments.
The technology of Person-to-person payments allows customers to transfer funds from their bank account or credit card to another individual's account via the Internet or a mobile device.
Companies like PayPal and Venmo (acquired by PayPal) act as “intermediaries” for those payments. Other companies currently vying for your mobile dollars are Zelle, GooglePaySend, and Square. The ‘players’ change quickly through mergers and acquisitions, so by the time this article is published, new names may be on the scene.
But the question is…is the technology safe and is it foolproof?
The answer depends on who is answering.
The industry movers, like PayPal and Venmo, to name just two, claim that there are plenty of safeguards in place given their encrypted networks.
An article from our friends at Investopedia.com is an excellent synopsis of the P2P risks and rewards. The article is by Jacob Eckstein titled, How Safe Is Venmo And Is It Free? (Nov. 6, 2018) In his article, Eckstein outlines the pros and cons of using P2P as a form of payment and discusses both benefits and pitfalls of this burgeoning payment method. He also offers very useful methods to safeguard your account information.
If you want to learn more about P2P, visit Nerdwallet.com for the article by Amber Murakami-Fester titled: What Are Peer-to-Peer Payments? (Peer-to-peer payment services let you use a bank account or a credit or debit card to pay friends or family from your phone.) (Aug. 28, 2018).
In her article, Murakami-Fester also offers advice about protecting your bank and credit card information from hackers and theft.
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