July 24, 2011
Sending Money To Family And Friends – My Search For A PayPal Alternative Ends Here!
I had written about my frustration earlier on how complex it was to send money to my wife since we keep our finances separate and in different banks.
Of course, PayPal would be the first avenue that would come to one's mind. But my wife's PayPal account isn't linked to her bank account but to a credit card. Plus I have my misgivings on PayPal.
The solution was to open a joint account as a hub account. Since both our banks are linked to this, I can transfer money from my account to my wife's via this account. Though this works, it isn't the best solution. To give an example, It took about 13 calendar days for a transfer from my account to my wife's!
But my search for the perfect money transfer solution ended when I found this service called PopMoney.
Send money family to family and friends via popmoney
Here's how PopMoney works:- I log in to my Ally bank account and make a money transfer to my wife via Popmoney
- My wife gets a notification and the money is made available in 3 days
- No fees either for the receiver or the sender!
- PopMoney is available with select banks as a free service
- You login to your bank as usual and make the transfer
- If the receiver is someone close to you like a family member, you can send money directly to their bank account. If the receiver does not wish to share his/her account information, you can send the money to the Payee's email id or mobile number
- If the money was sent via a bank account, once the receiver acknowledges the transfer, the money is deposited directly to the account
- If the money was sent via an email id or a mobile number, the receiver has to register with PopMoney, link his/her email id/mobile number to his bank account and the money is deposited there. This extra step prevents the sender from knowing the receiver's bank account information
- You cannot send money via the PopMoney website. You can only send money through a bank that provides this service
- There are no fees involved either for the sender or the receiver
- Unlike PayPal, your transactions are protected by your bank
The screenshots below are from Ally bank which offers this service. Other banks that have partnered with PopMoney will have different screens but the process is essentially the same.
STEP 1: Log in to your bank account and choose the recipientTo send money, login to your bank account, not PopMoney's site. You cannot send money from PopMoney, unlike PayPal.
The next step is to register your phone number with PopMoney. PopMoney will send a verification code which you need to enter to register. This step is required only once.
You can set up recipients in the Add Contacts screen. Each recipient can be associated with an email id, phone number or the payee's bank account. This too, is a one time process.
If the Payee was associated with an email id or a phone number, the recipient will receive a notification to claim that money within 10 days. The recipient can claim the money by registering with PopMoney and the money is deposited to the bank account as registered.
If the Payee was associated with the Payee's bank account, the money is deposited directly within about 3 days. The recipient need not register with PopMoney to claim the funds.
Closing thoughtsFrom my experience PopMoney is a great way to send money to family and friends. I haven't used it long enough to think of any drawbacks yet, but from what I see, the service is simple and commission free for easy money transfer to family and friends.
This is not a paid review nor was I contacted by Ally or PopMoney to write this review. I happened to see this service when I logged in to my bank account and my curiosity got the best of me (in a good way)!
I use Ally, but a number of banks provide PopMoney service including Citibank, PNC, DCU and US Bank. You can see the full list here.
If your bank doesn't provide PopMoney service, consider joining Ally Bank. Read my good and not–so–good opinions on Ally before making up your mind!