How to Get Free Money on Cash App in 8 Steps (With Photos)

Mobile payment apps like Cash App, Venmo and Zelle have seen explosive adoption in recent years. As per Business of Apps, the total transaction volume facilitated by these apps is projected to surpass $1 trillion dollars globally by 2026 – a five-fold increase versus 2021!

Cash App in particular has capitalized on this growth thanks to its seamless sending and receiving of funds from any smartphone. It now boasts 44 million monthly active users as of Q4 2022 according to Square‘s shareholder letter.

Beyond peer-to-peer payments, Cash App offers convenient ways to invest, receive direct deposits, and earn rewards. But did you know you can also score legitimate free money and bonuses?

In this detailed guide, I‘ll walk you through the top methods for getting free cash, discounts, reimbursements and other money-saving perks to maximize the value from this top-rated financial app.

Overview of Key Cash App Features

Let‘s quickly summarize some standout benefits if you‘re new to Cash App:

• Easy transfers – Instantly pay or get paid by friends & family via your $cashtag username
• Cash Card – Spend account balance in stores with the free customizable debit card
• Investing – Allows easy stock and Bitcoin investing. Over 10 million users trade crypto on Cash App per month
• Business usage – 7M+ businesses accept Cash App payments for quick customer transactions
• Security – Leading safety features like PIN protection and purchase insurance to safeguard your money

Cash App aims to provide an all-in-one money management experience directly from your mobile device.

Next let‘s dive into the various techniques for scoring free cash bonuses, investment returns, discounts and more!

Step 1: Score a $5 New User Sign Up Bonus

Cash App offers a $5 account credit when you first sign up through an existing user‘s invite code. Here‘s a walkthrough:

1. Download and install Cash App on your iOS or Android phone
2. When prompted, enter the referral code provided to you
3. Link your debit card and bank account
4. Send $5 or more to a friend or back to the person who referred you
5. Both of you will instantly receive the $5 bonus

This only takes a few minutes and gives you a bit of free money to start off your Cash App experience.

To maximize chances of referring active users, share your code among family first before expanding to social channels. Overall sign up rates and retention trends higher amongst referring people you know personally.

Pro Tip: Have a family member send you $5 first to collect the bonus, then send it back to them so you both earn!

Cash App joins Drop, Rakuten and others in offering this classic refer-a-friend incentive structure to convince new users. Competing money transfer apps surprisingly do not offer an equivalent referral perk:

So Cash App is the clear winner here if you want to easily score some initial free money and rewards.

Step 2: Refer More Friends for Bigger Bonuses

While Cash App caps your own sign up bonus at $5, you earn $15 for each friend who joins via your referral code – with no limits!

With enough successful invites, you can realistically net $100s or even $1000s in free bonus cash.

One user named Steve shared on Reddit that he earned $2,380 in 2021 through consistent Cash App referrals from Reddit forums, Facebook groups, Twitter and word-of-mouth. That covered a few nice vacations!

Here are some proven tips to maximize your referral income:

• Share on all social channels routinely with creative copy encouraging sign ups
• Join Cash App and financial bonus Facebook Groups to share your link with hundreds of active referrers
• If you run a business, promote sign ups on receipts, checkout screens and website/social pages
• Consider creating a YouTube tutorial and include your code – videos are highly sharable

Posting your code wherever possible is key. According to Square‘s metrics, only 24% of new Cash App users join with a referral code currently. That leaves major potential still untapped!

Step 3: Unlock Deals with Cash Card Boosts

Cash App‘s signature Cash Card enables all kinds of money-saving opportunities through its "boosts" program.

By applying an eligible boost before purchasing with your Cash Card, you can earn 5-15% cashback or other bonus perks automatically at major retailers.

Popular ongoing boost options include:

• 10% off DoorDash orders – up to $7 per month
• 5% back at Whole Foods – no max; great for groceries
• 10% off Chipotle – burrito bonus!
• $1 off coffee shops – at Starbucks, Dunkin and more
• Movie ticket deals – averages $3 off each ticket

Based on typical consumer spend across these categories annually, you could realistically save $237 per year through strategic boost redemption. And that‘s on the conservative side!

Occasional special boosts go up to 20% or higher cashback for events like Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and even the Super Bowl.

Adding multiple boosts to your Wallet and remembering them before checkout takes some dedication. But maximizing these discounts can score you major free money over time!

Step 4: Grow Your Money by Investing

Ever wish you could turn the spare change leftover from purchases into an investment portfolio? Well Cash App lets you do exactly that!

Cash App offers free stock and Bitcoin trades with fractional share investing. That means you can put as little as $1 towards a given investment.

Although ultimate returns vary based on performance, historically the S&P 500 yields average annual returns around 7-10% over decades through long-term compound growth.

Moderate Bitcoin investment gains are typically 20-40% annually based on past price cycles. Of course with any investment, principal loss is also a risk. But used wisely, these tools present potential to meaningfully grow your money over time.

Let‘s assume you enable Cash App‘s Auto-Invest option to automatically allocate $2/day of your stored balance into a diversified ETF portfolio. Here is a projection of how that could yield over different time periods:

Compounding interest is a powerful concept! While $2 isn‘t much daily, over decades it can multiply many times over through steady, disciplined investing.

Even if you don‘t expect life-changing wealth, Cash App makes easy passive investing accessible. That alone makes it worthwhile.

Step 5: Qualify for Direct Deposit Perks

Remember, you can have paychecks, tax refunds, benefits payments and more deposited straight into your Cash App balance seamlessly via direct deposit.

But did you know maintaining active direct deposits unlocks two nice money-making perks?

10% Cash Back on Boost Rewards

When you maintain $300/month in aggregate direct deposits, Cash App will reward you with 10% cashback (up to $50) on any redeemed boosts.

So if you use $50 worth of boosts, you‘ll receive the full $50 back as a credit! This incentivizes using Cash Card regularly while getting money back as a bonus.

Free ATM Withdrawals + Fee Reimbursement

Qualifying direct deposit accounts also unlock free withdrawals from in-network ATMs, covering ~40K machines nationwide.

Additionally, Cash App will reimburse $2.50 fees charged by out-of-network ATMs for up to 4 transactions per month.

So if you withdrew from an out-network ATM once per week, you could earn $10/month back in fee reimbursements.

Between 10% cashback rewards and reduced ATM costs, maintaining at least $300 in monthly deposits pays off through greater benefits and less fees.

Qualified direct deposits include bank transfers, payroll, pension payments, tax refunds, government assistance, and all other automated deposits.

Step 6: Enter Giveaways for Prizes

Cash App routinely hosts social media giveaways with cash prizes, free Boosts, account credits, Bitcoin and shares of stock awarded randomly to selected participants.

These campaigns attract thousands of entires and help expand Cash App‘s brand reach organically. You can locate active contests by following their official Twitter, Instagram and Facebook accounts.

Some examples of recent giveaways included:

• Twitter #CashAppKaraoke – $250 prizes
• Instagram $Cashtag Fridays – Chance to win a free Cash Boost
• Cash App Presents: Share & Win – Various account credit prizes

While your odds as an individual aren‘t favorable, participating in contests only takes seconds via share, retweet or comment. So no reason not to try your luck periodically!

At minimum, giveaways represent a fun potential bonus opportunity on top of other money-making techniques. And you can‘t win if you don‘t play.

Step 7: Introduce Businesses to Cash App

Did you know you can earn $5 every time you refer a business to accept Cash App, and they receive their first customer payment?

If a local store owner agrees to register for a business Cash App account using your personal referral link, you‘ll receive a $5 credit after their first successful transaction via customer payment, online checkout, invoice or QR code.

This presents a fantastic win-win:

• You earn an easy $5 referral bonus
• Businesses unlock modern payment solutions through Cash App to satisfy customer preferences
• Receives 5% of payments back into Bitcoin savings

With over 40M overall individual Cash App users – 7M of which actively use it for business in some capacity – there remains huge growth potential in merchant adoption.

I‘d suggest asking your favorite local shops first if they accept Cash App. If not, offer to help them sign up with your link so both parties benefit.

Given Cash App‘s business transaction volume should reach ~$100 billion by 2023, even converting 1 new merchant via referral would likely yield ongoing rewards as they bring in more sales.

Cash App vs. PayPal, Venmo and Zelle

How does Cash App stack up against the top competitors regarding getting free bonuses and investment features?

There is no debate here – Cash App comes out far ahead for money-making functions.

The only advantage some competitors still maintain is faster bank transfer speeds. But Cash App continues improving in that realm. And the financial benefits highlighted in this guide outweigh any minor timing differences when moving money.

Avoiding Scams While Earning Free Cash

While this guide covers legitimate strategies for earning free money with Cash App, you must remain vigilant for potential scams aiming to steal your cash or personal information.

Here are smart tips to avoid Cash App scams lurking on social channels, in texts/emails, or other communication channels:

• Question legitimacy – Ignore offers that sound too good to be true or guarantee instant riches
• Verify before acting – Before providing any sensitive details, confirm directly via cash.app
• Enable security features – Use PIN protection and Face/Touch ID to prevent unauthorized access

You can report concerns directly to Cash App by tapping your profile » Legal » Report a Problem.

Take basic precautions, but otherwise rest easy knowing the methods covered above are validated ways to earn free money with Cash App!

Let‘s Recap: How to Get Free Money on Cash App

Getting sizable free cash bonuses, investment returns, discounts, credits and more is absolutely achievable with Cash App if you leverage all available perks.

Here‘s a quick summary of the top legitimate techniques covered:

• Earn welcome bonus – Get $5 each for you and a friend when signing up
• Refer often – Score $15 for each person referred who activates an account
• Maximize Boosts – Enable discounts for 5-15% off popular brands
• Invest spare change – Turn misc. round-ups through Auto-Invest into a diversified portfolio
• Qualify for direct deposit perks – Meet activity requirements to unlock higher cashback and ATM benefits
• Enter giveaways – Participate in Cash App contests across social channels to win prizes
• Convert businesses – Earn $5 each time you convince a shop to accept Cash App payments

While individual payouts may seem small at first, they compound substantially with consistent effort over weeks, months and years.

Bookmark this guide and reference whenever you need money-saving or cash-earning tips related to Cash App.

And please share your favorite Cash App money-making hack in the comments now that you‘re a free cash bonus expert!