“別々 (betsu betsu)”
“Pourriez- vous diviser le facture?”
“Can you split the check, please?”
Splitting the check can be an awkward experience, especially when you’re traveling. If you’re a member of the group that failed to inform the waiter before you took your seats, then you’ll ask sheepishly, in your very foreign tongue at the very end of the meal and be met with the look. The one that all waiters and waitresses give, if only for a split second, to customers who split the check too late because they don’t know that splitting the check isn’t an easy process. Or worse, the waiter must now inform you that ‘we don’t split checks here.’ So You look at your friends utterly perplexed. Who’s going to pay? Who’s going to be the real adult?
Luckily, enough of the human race has experienced this very feeling that technology has caught up with us to meet the demand. Here are some apps to help you split the check without ever asking ‘Can we… uuuum…split it?’
PayPal
PayPal is one of the older payment services on the list, but it’s recently gone for a revamp. Long gone are the days of PayPaling over computer for only services. As long as you and your friend both have registered PayPal accounts, money can flow between the two of you through the encrypted service as freely as you desire. If your PayPal link is set up to receive money from friends and family, the app allows you to receive money from those groups free of charge as long as they are in the same country.
Facebook Messenger
When Facebook released the option to send money through Facebook Messenger, who wasn’t suspicious. The site already had way too much information, but so far it’s shown to be a benefit to individuals traveling abroad, needing to exchange currency and cash quickly. The process is very simple: Users open a conversation with either one individual or a group conversation and select “Request” after hitting the amount. No fee and no fuss. The app’s security is questionable still, but it offers the option of submitting a password before handing over the money.
Venmo
Venmo is a fairly new app, owned by PayPal. It allows you to make an account through your Facebook or email and from there you connect your credit or debit card to the account and you can get started. You can send money through Venmo using an established balance you put on the app, your bank account or a card. All options are free. Since it’s owned by PayPal, the information you input is encrypted in the same way, however, for this millennial-centric app, privacy does not exist and other friends or curious people can see who you paid and what for, which can be a turn off.
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