What’s the best system to use to send a few hundred to $5000 or $6000?
If someone sends checks to you, would it be best to use Paypal?
I’ve been wary of such systems because I don’t think there’s any insurance.
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Are you talking about sending/receiving money to/from friends & family or making/receiving payments to/from strangers?
I don’t follow, those are two different things.
Agree w/ @scripta - depends on the scenario. If it is friends/family that you trust, you could use Zelle or something similar. If strangers or selling items online, I have no idea. Many say stay away from Paypal for the latter.
I use Zelle on a regular basis to pay back family for shared expenses, etc.
This is money moving between family members. For instance, say someone occasionally sends me a check for a few hundred up to several thousand dollars, paying or repaying for something. They said they were trying to find a way to send funds electronically but didn’t know how. They thought there might be some direct ACH from their bank account to my account but there isn’t.
I use Paypal but haven’t used any other services.
PS – My accounts are with Alliant CU.
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Zelle, popmoney etc then. Depends on your banks and theirs as to which is best and available.
Many banks support zelle on free accounts. CapitalOne is one that I remember. Discover banking also.
List of banks & CU’s: https://www.zellepay.com/participating-banks-and-credit-unions-0
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No Alliant, not even on this list: Get Started With Zelle | List of Bank Partners and Credit Unions |
Paypal seems to have a system for sending money to friends and family. I’m interested in any system that’s free to use.
Yes, I would prefer to use Alliant too. You might find Discover is a good option if you don’t mind another account. Discover is quick and easy on ACH’s to Alliant. This would make it at least 2 steps though for you and some # of steps for your family member.
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Has anyone used Paypal for this kind of thing? My Alliant account is linked to Paypal.
I haven’t but maybe this will be helpful:
Doesnt Alliant do member-to-member transfers?
Paypal Friends and Family would be free to both of you when sending money from a linked bank account.
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Yes, they do. I assume since OP is looking for such options that the other person does not have an Alliant account.
Another method is Venmo, which is also owned by PayPal, but some people still prefer it since it’s supposedly a little simpler. I do not know of any safety concerns for dealing with friends and family using either one. Both have limits, I think PayPal is $10K per transaction, Venmo is $4999.99 per week with a verified account.
Zelle also has daily limits ($500 and up), depending on the bank and how much you use it.
There’s also Google Pay, which I think is free. Here, I found a comparison article for you:
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This is how my dad and I exchange money. It’s instantaneous and works great.
I wish my sister also had an Alliant account as it would make things a lot easier. Thankfully most people that I want to send/receive money from have iPhones, so I’ve used Apple Pay as a backup and that’s been fine.
Any of the retail p2p platforms for millennials. Venmo, CashApp, ApplePay, Zelle if your bank supports it. You’ll end up signing up for them all eventually depending on what your payers have, unless you can dictate terms. Trying to force everyone onto the same platform is sort of a fools errand these days.
Nothing wrong with old school checks though, at least for one-off transactions.
Practically every large bank is integrated with Zelle for bank to bank instant transfers. I use it directly from CapitalOne.com - just need the recipients’ phone number.
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OP apparently only has Alliant, which is not.
Or the email address they used to sign up. Zelle requires unique email or phone number, so if you have multiple Zelle-supporting bank accounts (like Chase, Citi, CapOne, Discover, etc), you won’t be able to sign up with all of them using just one phone number or just one email address.
I think you can use scripta+citi@gmail.com, scripta+chase@gmail.com etc and the messages will all go to your scripta@gmail.com email account but the payments will be associated with the different banks. I have confirmed the email part last year but I haven’t tested the Zelle side of things.
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Well, opening a CapitalOne checking account takes maybe 5 minutes, and ACH to / from Alliant is not hard at all. The whole thing would definitely take less time than we have spent typing on this thread! 
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