Does Cash App give free money?

Cash App has been around for years now, and it's grown into one of the largest mobile payment apps out there — but does that mean you can get any kind of gift card without paying anything?

We decided to find out if you can actually use Cash App to get a bunch of free money...and whether it's worth using at all. Here's everything we found about how to get free money from Cash App.

UPDATE Jan 9, 2021, 11:00 AM ET: This article was updated with new information after Apple removed Cash App as a partner issuer for iTunes & App Store Gift Cards. Read more here.

Does Cash app send free money?

You might be wondering why anyone would want to pay to withdraw their own money instead of getting it for free like everyone else. Well, some people just really enjoy spending money! And yes, there are legitimate reasons someone could choose to do so. But before we dive deeper into explaining exactly what happens when you sign up for an account, let's talk first about who isn't eligible.

The only way you can get free money through Cash App is by exchanging your credit card rewards points (or airline miles) for gift cards offered through its partnerships with brands such as Amazon, Starbucks, Walmart, Sephora, Macy's, GameStop, etc. These aren't actual bank accounts -- they're basically prepaid debit cards with no interest attached. You'll have to spend those gift cards within two weeks, then wait another four months until you receive another balance to top off your next purchase. After that time period passes, you will need to either replenish your gift card stash yourself via in-app purchases or start over again. If you don't redeem them quickly enough, you lose access to them forever.

If you'd rather not wait for these reward points to accumulate, you can also request direct deposits directly into your Cash App account. The catch? They come straight out of your checking account, meaning you won't see any extra funds show up on your monthly statement. So while you may end up saving money because your bill payments go down, it doesn't feel quite right to us.

Finally, if you happen to live outside the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Japan, UK, Ireland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, India, Indonesia, Brazil, Mexico, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, Philippines, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, France, Portugal, Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Lithuania, Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Serbia, Bulgaria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Malta, Estonia, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Monaco, San Marino, Slovenia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Morocco, Panama, Peru, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Bahamas, Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago, Guyana, Suriname, Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Cayman Islands, Haiti, Marshall Islands, Maldives, Mauritius, Antigua & Barbuda, Saint Kitts & Nevis, Seychelles, Dominica, Grenada, St Lucia, Montserrat, Turks & Caicos Islands, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Puerto Rico, Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, American Samoa, Aruba, Belarus, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Central African Republic, Comoros, Cook Islands, Côte d'Ivoire, Cyprus, Egypt, French Polynesia, Gabon, Guam, Greece, Greenland, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Micronesia, Namibia, Nepal, Palau, Pakistan, Palestine Territories, Papua New Guinea, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, Sudan, Swaziland, Syria, Taiwan, Togo, Tonga, Tuvalu, Uganda, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Kiribati, Sierra Leone, São Tomé & Príncipe, Senegal, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Vanuatu, Zanzibar, Antarctica, Argentina, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Botswana, Cape Verde Islands, Cayman Islands, China, Christmas Island, Cocos Islands, Democratic People’s Republic Of Korea, East Timor, Federated States Of Micronesia, Fiji, French Guiana, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Gran Canaria, Hawaii, Heard Island & McDonald Islands, Jersey, La Digue, Lecompte, Macao, Maldives, Mauritius, Mayotte, Nauru, Niue, Norfolk Island, Northern Mariana Islands, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Reunion, Romania, Roscosmos State Research Center Komsomolskoye, Russian Federal Space Agency, Saint Helena, Samara Oblast, Saint Pierre & Miquelon, Sao Tome & Principe, Seychelles, Solomon Islands, Szczecin, Tahiti, Tanzania, Tokelau, Transnistria, Turkmenistan, Tuva, Ulyanovsk Oblast, Uruguay, Vatican City, Wallis & Futuna, Yekaterinburg, Åland islands, Antarctica.

So there you have it. It sounds pretty darn suspicious, especially since many banks offer similar deals where customers earn "free" checks every month without ever having to make withdrawals. Not only that, but even though you technically never paid to open your Cash App account, it still charges users fees to keep things running smoothly.

In other words, Cash App's benefits for consumers seem slim indeed.

And yet...there remains hope! According to our research, there are still some solid ways to get free stuff using Cash App. Let's dig in.

What is free cash App?

As mentioned above, Cash App offers various methods for withdrawing your own money. One of which is linking your Chase Bank checking account to your Cash App account. Once linked, whenever you link a Visa debit/credit card to the same account, you will automatically convert whatever percentage of Cash App earnings goes toward your debit/credit card transactions. Meaning, if you put 10 percent of your earnings towards your Cash App account, 90 percent gets deposited into your Chase checking account. Conversely, if you set aside 80 percent of your Cash App earnings for your Chase checking account, 20 percent gets transferred to your Cash App account.

To add a new card to your Chase checking account, simply visit the Chase website, select Debit Card, and follow the prompts. Then log into your Cash App account and head to Settings > Account Management > My Money > Linked Accounts. From there, click Add Your Primary Credit / Debit Card and enter the info needed.

Another option comes courtesy of Discover Financial Services, Inc., owner of both Cash and Discover brand credit cards. With Discover Checking, you can link multiple debit/credit cards to your Cash App account for easy transfers between accounts. Simply go to this page on Cash App's website, scroll down to the bottom, and hit Activate Now. There, you will be able to select additional cards under Manage Cards. When adding a third party debit card, please note that you must verify the card before depositing funds onto it. Otherwise, you risk being charged overdraft fees.

Lastly, if none of these work for you, there's always the old standby method: requesting a deposit directly into your Cash App account. Unfortunately, according to Cash App's terms and conditions, Cash App reserves the right to reverse any direct deposit you submit once per quarter. That said, it appears that Cash App tends to favor big names like Amazon and Starbucks over smaller retailers during this process.

But hey, maybe you've got a cool idea for a business model. Who knows!

Is cash app safe?

Here's something you should know: Cash App stores all user data locally on US servers. However, due to recent reports regarding security breaches involving major technology companies like Facebook and Google, Cash App implemented a series of measures designed to protect user data last year. As part of these efforts, Cash App began encrypting messages sent to support staff members. Additionally, Cash App hired a team of independent privacy experts to ensure compliance with local regulations surrounding consumer protection and customer privacy. In short, Cash App says it takes user safety seriously.

Still, we recommend taking precautions anyway. For example, change your password regularly, don't reuse passwords across different services, avoid clicking links in emails, delete unused accounts, etc.

Is cash app or PayPal better?

While Cash App certainly seems shady, we didn't want to leave out one of the most popular alternatives to traditional banking: PayPal. If you haven't heard already, PayPal owns Venmo, Xoom, Bill Me Later, and Due Date Loans. Like Cash App, PayPal allows users to connect certain financial accounts to a single login. Unlike Cash App however, you can transfer funds directly from your PayPal account to your PayPal balance. Also unlike Cash App, PayPal lets you withdrawal your hard-earned money whenever you want.

Cash App is a popular app for sending and receiving money, but it's also an easy way to make some extra cash too—as we'll see below.

The service has been around since 2014 and is owned by Square Inc., which bought it back in 2017. In that time, Cash App users have made millions of dollars through its platform (according to the company). It can be used as both a debit card or credit card depending on your country of residence. You can use it to pay friends, family members, and businesses using Apple Pay, Google Wallet, PayPal, Venmo, Zelle, and more.

It doesn't matter whether you're paying or getting paid — there are plenty of reasons why you should sign up. But before we look at those perks, let's talk about how exactly it works.

Can you receive money instantly with Cash App?

No, not yet. That said, if you send money to another person who uses Cash App, they will usually get it within two hours after making their request. The only exception to this rule is when the sender requests "instant transfer," which means that they want the funds immediately without any delay. This option isn't available to everyone though.

If you live in Japan, Mexico, Brazil, South Korea, Australia, Germany, Italy, France, Spain, Poland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and India, then you can choose Instant Transfer. People living outside these regions cannot select this option. Instead, they must wait until 2 days later to claim their earnings. On top of that, people based in Canada might need to wait even longer than that. There is no official word on what kind of delays await people in other countries. However, according to some reports, you may still see transfers arrive one day later than expected.

In addition to waiting a little while, you might face other issues as well. When I tried to initiate an instantaneous transaction between my bank account and Cash App, I was told that I couldn't because I didn't meet the criteria. After further investigation, I discovered that I needed to add direct deposit into my profile settings first. Then, once I did so, I could start the process and pick Instant Transfer. If you run into similar problems, try adding Direct Deposit under Manage Profiles & Settings.

You can also check out our guide detailing how to set up Direct Deposits here. Once you've done that, you're ready to go! Just follow these steps:

Tap Send Money from inside the Cash icon menu.

Select Add Funds.

Choose Direct Deposit.

Enter your banking information and tap Next.

Confirm your details.

This method worked perfectly fine for me. As soon as I tapped next, I saw a notification appear saying that the funds were credited to my account. So don't worry if you seem to experience delayed transactions. Usually, the reason behind such occurrences is something beyond your control. And remember that sending funds via Cash App can save you big bucks compared to traditional methods like Western Union.

While many banks charge fees when you send money abroad, Cash App won't deduct anything from your balance. For example, if you wanted to send $100 USD to someone in Japan, Cash App would instead charge them just $2 USD plus applicable taxes. They cover everything involved during the entire process. Plus, unlike Western Union, you don't have to find anyone to help you exchange currencies either. All you need is an internet connection.

How long does Cash App take to receive money from someone else?

As mentioned earlier, if you sent money to someone using the Instant Transfer feature, you'd probably get it within 24-48 hours. Otherwise, if you picked Standard Delivery, then Cash App says that it takes three business days for the payment to show up in your inbox. Of course, this depends on where you reside. Some areas may require additional processing times due to high demand.

When you get notified that a transaction has completed successfully, you'll see a receipt inside the email. At this point, you can log into your Cash App account and view the amount in question. You can withdraw your earned money whenever you wish. Keep in mind that withdrawals aren't immediate, though. Depending on where you live, Cash App may ask you to verify your identity before giving access to your funds.

How do I accept Cash App instantly?

So now you know how to get money transferred to your Cash App account, but what happens when you receive payments? How can you activate your new income? Well, thankfully, activating your earnings is pretty simple. Here's how to do it.

Open Cash App and head over to Profile. Tap Edit Your Details. Scroll down to Payments. Click Accept Payment. Now enter the amount that you received. Make sure to double check the number itself. If you receive multiple payments in one day, repeat this step for each entry. Finally, hit Save Changes.

That's it! Remember, your payout won't happen right away. You actually need to wait 48 hours before being able to spend the money, unless you chose Instant Transfer. Don't forget to keep track of your Earnings section so you never miss a single dollar again.

What if you haven't got an active Cash Card linked to your Account? To fix this problem, open the Cash App website and click the link that reads Activate New Credit/Debit Cards. Enter your phone number and confirm the activation code provided on WhatsApp. From now on, every time you swipe your Cash Card anywhere, you'll be charged a small fee. You can always cancel the service anytime you wish.

Can u instant transfer on Cash App?

Yes... sort of. While you can instantly transfer money to others, Cash App limits how much you can withdraw per month. According to their FAQ page, you can only withdraw a maximum of $200 USD per week. Additionally, you can only withdraw twice as much as you deposited per week. So, if you added $1,000 USD worth of value to your Cash Card last Friday, you can only withdraw $500 USD on Sunday. Again, this is dependent on where you live.

If you fall into this category, you should consider signing up for a prepaid Visa gift card. These cards allow you to load various amounts onto them. Since they come preloaded with money, you won't incur any charges—instead, you'll earn rewards points that stack up. Learn more about how Cash Rewards work here.

Aside from withdrawing less than you put on your card, Cash App does offer some great features. Let's talk about how you can easily manage your savings goals. First off, if you ever accidentally delete a message containing sensitive info, you can recover it by logging into your account. Secondly, you can lock certain accounts temporarily. Say you want to prevent strangers from accessing your personal data. Or maybe you want to stop sharing certain things with specific contacts. Simply visit the relevant screen, scroll down to the bottom, and toggle Lock Accounts. Lastly, you can enable Two Factor Authentication for your Cash App account. By doing so, you'll gain better security and peace of mind.

Lastly, if you decide to leave Cash App, you can turn off auto withdrawal. To disable this function, simply navigate to the Manage My Data section and change Auto Withdrawal Off from True to False.

Cash App is a popular app that allows you to send and receive cash from your phone, but it also has plenty of other features. It's one of those apps where people use it to pay bills or transfer funds between their accounts, but there's more than meets the eye if you dig deep enough.

It seems like every time we open up our wallets, we find some sort of promotional offer for an instant reward — sometimes literally just by opening the app. While these deals may not be as lucrative as they once were (most of us have already paid off our credit cards), we're still interested in finding out how much extra money we could earn. So let's take a look at what exactly Cash App offers users when they sign up, then see how easy it would be to actually leverage its own services to earn money on the side.

How can I make money with Cash App?

When you first download the app, it will ask you whether you want to opt-in to receiving push notifications about special promotions. You should click Yes here because doing so enables you to unlock even more opportunities to earn money through Cash App. In fact, many of the best tips involve taking advantage of these alerts.

Once you've clicked yes, you'll notice that the next screen asks you to verify your email address. This step isn't required, however. You can skip it and log into the app without any verification process. Still, it's worth checking your spam folder just in case something got lost during transmission. If you don't think you received anything, though, go ahead and fill out this form.

After entering your password, you'll see a welcome page which explains how to set up various payment methods, including Paypal. But before you do that, scroll down below the payment options section. There you'll see two sections labeled "Earn Money" and "Refer Friends." Click Earn Money to begin earning money via referral links.

In order to start making money, you need to create a new account profile. Choose either Get Paid or refer friends. Either way, after filling out basic information such as name, gender, birthday etc., choose Refer Friends. Then select which friend(s) you'd like to invite to join Cash App. Once they accept your invitation, they can access your referral link. The person who accepts the invitation gets sent a text message with instructions on how to claim their prize. For example, someone might get invited to participate in a survey, while others might enter code words into a trivia quiz. After completing each task, they'll get notified by text message. When they finally complete all tasks within 10 days, they'll automatically qualify for the bonus payout.

You can also earn money by referring friends using Cash App. Just follow the same steps above, except instead of selecting "refer friends," choose "earn money" under "invite family & friends."

How to get free money?

We're going to explore three different strategies you can employ to get free money using Cash App. These aren't scams, per se, since none of them require you to purchase any products or services. They simply rely on you being lucky enough to pick up a promo deal along the way.

The easiest method for getting free money involves picking up codes found inside Cash App emails. To redeem these codes, go back to the home page and swipe left on your main feed. Scroll down until you reach the Promotions tab. You'll see dozens upon dozens of potential discount codes. Each one has a corresponding button beneath it which says Redeem Code. Simply tap that button and type in the relevant code number. Hit Enter, and voila! Your rewards account will show the amount credited to your card. Repeat this action over and over again until you hit jackpot. Of course, it helps if you subscribe to newsletters from Cash App, but you can definitely build up a collection of codes over time.

Another strategy for scoring free money involves clicking on Cash App ads. Every now and again, you'll come across a sponsored post that reads "Your Account Needs Work?" Sometimes the ad copy itself will mention a particular company, such as AppleCare+. Other times it won't. However, regardless of the specific details, the bottom line is always the same. Tap the ad to reveal a prompt asking you to perform some kind of action. That action might include downloading an app, signing up for a newsletter, or watching a video. Whatever you decide to do, keep scrolling past the ad to discover another one. Eventually, you'll arrive at a splashscreen inviting you to share the ad with friends. Share this screenshot with whoever created the campaign to help increase its visibility. This approach works well because most of these campaigns are designed specifically for social media. By sharing them online, you could end up increasing their audience size exponentially. Plus, you never know which companies might contact you directly via Twitter DM.

Lastly, there's the dreaded mystery shopper trick. All you have to do is search Google for Cash App mystery shoppers. You'll immediately spot tons of job listings offering chances to score hundreds of dollars in exchange for performing simple tests or shopping at certain stores. Some jobs only require you to download an app, while others ask you to shop for groceries or check out movies in theaters. You'll probably have to spend some time searching around in order to find legitimate gigs. Also note that some of the job descriptions say things like "must be 18+ years old," meaning you must be legal age in order to apply.

If you happen to land a gig, you'll likely receive a notification once the test begins. Take part in the test according to directions, and once finished, submit feedback saying how smoothly everything went. Remember to provide detailed answers regarding service quality, cleanliness, speed, and overall experience. Be sure to add photos wherever possible. Lastly, don't forget to tag @cashapp in your tweets so recruiters can easily locate you.

How can I get $30 Cash App for free?

As mentioned earlier, you can also use referrals to earn additional bonuses. A quick way to do this is by creating multiple profiles on Cash App. Sign up with separate user names and passwords and assign unique referral links to each individual. Now whenever anyone signs up under your referral link, you automatically get rewarded.

For instance, let's assume you referred 50 people to the site. Those people then collectively accepted invitations to complete surveys and quizzes. Everyone who participates earns 20 cents apiece. Over time, that adds up to quite a bit of extra money. As long as everyone remains active, you should be able to rack up thousands of points fairly quickly. This tip doesn't necessarily depend on having lots of referrals -- it's entirely dependent on how often participants respond to prompts and complete tasks.

Keep in mind that you can only earn $30 per week using this method. Therefore, you may wish to try another option that pays larger sums. Another great idea for maximizing your earnings is to turn Cash App into a membership club. Instead of paying monthly fees, why not invest in yourself year round? Here's how it works:

Every month, head to your settings menu and enable auto renewals for Cash App. Next, ensure that you haven't forgotten to cancel any subscriptions yet. Otherwise, you'll be charged recurring payments for months to come. Finally, navigate to Cash App's homepage and click on Renew Membership. On the following screen, input your billing info. Make sure to write down your subscription key, otherwise you won't be able to continue later. Keep in mind that you can change your price tier anytime you want.

Now comes the fun part. Go back to Cash App's homepage and navigate to Memberships " Upgrade Memberships. Type in the key you wrote down earlier. Select Monthly Plan 1 and hit Submit. This plan costs $49.99 per month.

Finally, head back to Cash App's homepage and scroll down until you find the Payments and Billing section. Under Subscriptions, you'll see the renewal status listed alongside whichever package you chose. Right underneath it, you'll see a green box titled Current Price Tier. Change this field to whatever you decided to charge per month. Save changes and wait for approval. Once approved, you'll become a member for life.

How does $50 Cash App boost work?

This last tip revolves around leveraging Cash App's ability to process transactions. Let's say you're standing in line waiting to buy gas. Rather than fumbling around for loose coins, you whip out a debit card and scan your smartphone against the pump. No coins needed! The point is that you can save money on everyday expenses without ever visiting a physical bank.

To further streamline your budget, consider investing in a mobile wallet called Revolut. Similar to PayPal, this platform lets you store ATM withdrawals and purchases made with Visa/Mastercard. You can withdraw money straight from your pocket without needing to fumble around looking for coins. And since you can connect your accounts, you can seamlessly switch between Cash App and Revolut depending on your needs.

With Revolut, you can also enjoy perks such as no foreign transaction fee, low flat rate international transactions, zero liability insurance coverage, and interest rates that beat both banks and prepaid cards. Best of all, it costs mere fractions of a percent per transaction compared to traditional banking institutions.