Square Cash Makes Requesting Payments Foolishly Simple

Square Cash has added a payment request option, allowing users to prompt a virtual cash collection simply by sending an email. Square launched Square Cash in October last year, as a way for friends and family to send each other money, but the app required proactivity on the part of the person paying. Now, though, the recipient can trigger a request themselves.

It's all done in as straightforward a way as you'd hope from Square, triggered either from the Square Cash app or by sending an email. In the app, you can choose the person you're expecting a payment from and then send the request; by email, you simply send a message with the $-amount in the subject to one or more recipients, and CC Square.

The email method also works when you hit reply-all to a group message. Those who have paid and those who are yet to respond are summarized in the app for keeping track.

Square is positioning the new feature as ideal for impromptu collections, such as for a work night out or to buy a gift for a colleague who is leaving, or for situations like gathering due-fees for a club or society.

The updated app is available for iOS and Android, as well as entirely through email for those with a different platform; it still only supports US users.