Snapchat, the app that allows users to send photos and videos to their friends (and crushes) with a 10-second time-lapse before the media disappears, announced Monday a new money-transferring feature called Snapcash.
“The service … allows Snapchat users to link their debit cards to their (Snapchat) account and quickly send money to a contact by starting a chat on a smartphone, typing in a dollar sign and an amount and hitting a green button, Snapchat explained in a post on its official blog on Monday,” Reuters reported.
“Snapcash is the result of Snapchat’s new partnership with mobile payments processing company Square, which is best known for its smartphone and tablet credit-card readers often used by small businesses. Any Snapchat user who elects to use Snapcash will have to sign up for a Square account, and users’ financial data will be held by Square, not Snapchat,” reported Time.
Snapchat is a leading social media application with more than 100 million users and valued at $10 billion. It is considered to be a growing threat to Facebook and Twitter, reported Reuters.
The company has long been seeking to expand from its original chat platform, said Mashable.
However, the new feature creates security worries. Snapchat recently faced media and user turmoil when a massive number of photos and videos that were supposed to disappear after 10 seconds were publicly leaked. The leak occurred when the website Snapsaved, a third-party app that allows Snapchat users to save photos, was hacked exposing by some estimates 200,000 photos.
The leak brought into question the security of Snapchat.
"Security researchers say that while any dedicated hacker with enough time and resources can find a way to tap into Snapchat, the company could make it harder for third-party services like Snapsaved," reported The New York Times.
And if the company cannot keep its “private” photo-sharing service private, then how will it do with user debit card information?
Snapchat assures its users that its partnership with Square should calm all security fears.
“We know that security is essential when you’re dealing with money. Square has a ton of experience in this area and our teams have been hard at work to make Snapcash a great experience for everyone,” stated the company on its blog.
Snapcash is an unlikely competitor to already established online payment services like Venmo, PayPal, Google Wallet and Apple Pay, according to Time.
“Facebook is also reportedly working on a mobile payment system of its own,” the magazine reported.
It is predicted that Snapcash will be most popular among younger users, but the user has to be at least 18 years old to sign up.
dsutton@deseretnews.com | Twitter: @debylene