As TechCrunch reports,"by wedging itself into p2p payments through a consumer app that tens of millions of people already regularly use with their close friends, Snapcash could inject itself into the lives of people who never considered downloading a finance app." Snapchat has proved itself to be an initiator when it comes to convincing users to adopt new practices; in just a little over three years, Snapchat gained 100 million monthly active users for (basically) a photo-sharing service that any smartphone already provides. When it comes to the p2p payment competitive landscape, including Venmo and Google Wallet, it is difficult for these apps to compete with the added incentive of social interaction that Snapcash offers. I have no doubt that Snapchat and Snapcash can do the (almost) impossible, and convince millions of non-finance users to find creative ways and reasons to share both social moments, and yes, their cash.
Of course, it is also important to note that security concerns still remain an issue for Snapchat, since the January 2014 hack of 4.6 million Snapchat accounts. While Snapchat has assured users that the actions are being taken to ensure that the breach cannot happen again, Gibson Security (the self-identified hackers) still contend that Snapchat's security "is still not too hard to circumvent." (BBC News).
Has Snapchat finally laid its golden egg with Snapcash? Only time and user buy-in will tell. Considering Snapchat's history of success and its millennial users, an idea like Snapcash does seem like the perfect way for Snapchat to find a much needed path into its user's wallets.
