This week the instant message app Snapchat hooked up with credit card processor Square to offer Snapcash, a service that lets you send friends money with a couple of clicks.

I’ve been testing several services that let you send money via email or mobile number, including the functionality that Square offered to Snapchat. I would have tried out Snapcash, but I only have one friend who uses it, and she never accepted my request. Memories of high school… sigh.

Last week I sent $5 gifts to 10 people and asked them to report back on how easy it was to get the dough.

Bank of America — Grade D-

I started with my bank because they’re always showing promos that say it’s easy to send money to friends and family.

They lied.

Sending money was a multi-step process on my end, and I almost gave up. Because I had to enter info about each recipient in one area before I could go to the area where I could send money, I decided to test it with just one volunteer. And it was worse on the recipient’s end:

I was unable to get any money as I do not personally have a Bank of America account. I called the local BOA and was told that I would have to have a BOA account to receive a money transfer. I hope you haven’t lost your money in cyberspace! Thanks for letting me partake. Wish I had a better experience to report back to you about.

PayPal — Grade B+

These days most of us have PayPal accounts, but even if you’re sending to someone who doesn’t have one, PayPal says you can get them money. The interface is incredibly easy, and it truly takes no time at all.

On the receiving end, people generally had no problems. One person never got the notification, but everyone else was able to get the money. The challenge was where the money went.

Since I already had a PayPal account, it was easy to get the money; however, I’ll need to remember that the money is there so I can use it. 🙂 I also had the option of linking my bank account to PayPal so I could transfer the money to it, but I opted out on that one and just updated by debit card on file.

Square Cash — Grade A-

Square Cash is an app (and now an integration into Snapchat). It was by far the coolest and easiest. Sending took seconds, and receiving was apparently quite fun.

This was super easy! Click the link, you can type in debit card number (or just scan the card using camera), enter CVV and verify phone number by entering 6 digit code that’s sent via text. I did the whole process in just over 2 minutes while on the train home from work!

The trick is that you have to hook up your debit card, not just any card. My assistant, Molly, said the process was easy, but she didn’t complete the transaction because she didn’t want me to give her five bucks. 🙂