As 60s folksinger Bob Dylan sang, the times they are a-changin’, and this is evident when it comes to monetary exchange. Coins jingling in your hip pocket and the rustle of a $5 note have been replaced with cashless, plastic credit and debit cards.

There is an even further advancement to consumer purchasing that’s both cashless and cardless—the evolution of the digital cash transaction app, allowing you to make online purchases at your fingertips.

When you reach the checkout stage of an online purchase, you are prompted to add your credit card details; however, most trustworthy websites will now give you the option of paying using an online transaction channel, the most popular being PayPal. It’s not unusual to find up to four different payment options at checkout. Here are the top performing online payment tools.

Many have heard of the financial tool PayPal—which has been around for some time now—and are regular users of the transactional platform. PayPal, from US origins, is worldwide and can be downloaded as an app and linked to your credit card or bank account so you can make online purchases without inputing your details into any websites. This gives the user a level of comfort that their personal payment information is safe.

In addition, you can send money to other PayPal users, add to, or withdraw from a secure money pool and shop anywhere PayPal is accepted. Alternatively, money can be sent to you. If the user qualifies, an option to break the purchase into four separate payments is offered. PayPal is available in more than 200 countries and regions.

Afterpay

This handy buy now, pay later transactional app is like PayPal whereas your personal payment details are linked, meaning you will not need to add them to any websites when making a purchase.

However, Afterpay is not a payment gateway like PayPal, but alternatively works as a ‘buy now, pay later’ loan, where the customer pays in four equal instalments over six weeks, the first being two weeks after purchase. This Australian product can be used in-store and allows you to make international purchases in a select number of countries.

Zip Pay

Another Australian service, customers who use Zip Pay are provided with a line-of-credit up to $1,000 and can make purchases at more than 22,000 participating retailers in-store and online. You can choose to make weekly, fortnightly, or monthly repayments to this transaction app within the interest free period. There may be options to make purchases for more than $1,000, with interest attached.

When using a financial transaction app, be mindful of hidden costs such as a fee for not having the appropriate funds when a deduction is made, and interest rates activated when the amount is not paid off within the interest-free timeframe. 

PayPal is usually free to use when you buy something, but the user may be charged a small fee for accepting a payment.

If you are simply wanting a safer alternative to making online purchases or want to spread the cost of your purchase out, these transaction apps, which you can download for free, are handy to have with automatic repayments made easy.

Disclaimer: This information has been provided as general advice. We have not considered your financial circumstances, needs or objectives.