The online monetary transfer business is one that is growing rapidly as users continue to adopt sending their friends cash through their smart phones. There are two key players are in the market space currently, Venmo and Google Wallet. The peer-to-peer payment space however is not dominated by a single company yet and has a lot of room for growth. These companies allow users to easily transfer cash through mobile apps from friend to friend. This online cash transfer happens quickly and easily allowing people to easily split bills or pay someone back without taking out cash. Users simply enter the payment amount and the friends name and the money is simply deposited in the selected friends bank account. These applications are newly popular and their popularity has led to interest from other parties trying to gain access to the space.

Snapchat recently launched “Snapcash” and integrated cash transaction feature using Square Cash. By going through an outside party for the cash transactions Snapchat puts users at ease knowing they can trust their debit card information is safe. The new payment option is already apart of users existing Snapchat account giving millions of people the access without them even having to download a new app.   Users simply have to enter their debit card information into the application and with the click of a button can send payments to anyone on their friend’s lists. Just like sending a photo user now can send cash.

Payment exchange apps overall have had wide acceptance and praise with many people finding them extremely helpful.  Though there is an overall positive surrounding the applications none individually have gained widespread adoption. The previously existing applications, Venmo and Google Wallet have struggled to gain adoption as they are marketed as new business models and require users to both download and trust these new companies. When entering this space Snapchat has an advantage, as it is a consumer app that people already have friends list created on and would give the technology to people who may never consider downloading it.

While Snapchat has just launched the friend-to-friend payment system the idea behind the system could open many doors for the application. Snapchat along has recently launched advertisements on the application. The advertisements range from a number of products and they allow users to watch short commercials about the product on the application. With Snapcash now integrated into the app, users could potentially have the ability to instantly purchase a product they see in an ad. If Snapchat were to go this route not only would they have great appeal to advertisers but would also generate another efficient service to their customers.   Further than the instant payments, Snapcash could also potentially reference debit card information to better target users with advertisements.

Snapcash is still in its beginning phases but with its current user base and potential for growth it could quickly become the leader in this new monetary exchange space.