“Cash App Saving Me From a Travel Scam” — What Do Accounts With the Green Icon Mean?

Cash App is often cited as the trapper's mobile digital transaction application of choice. Which is pretty puzzling, seeing as just like Venmo, Zelle, and PayPal, the mobile application uses encryption technology. Plus, like many of these other applications, folks who want to send certain amounts of money need to provide further ID information, like their social security number, in the app.

If you've ever used Cash App, you may have noticed that some accounts have a green status icon next to their usernames, but what does it mean?

This little animation closely resembles a building, which hints at the special distinctions reserved for these types of accounts. When you see that tiny green windowed structure, this means that the Cash App profile in question is a business account.

Ones without this green symbol mean that the account you're sending money to is a personal one. So what are the differences between these two types of Cash App profiles? Business accounts allow users to receive and send any amount of money in and out of their accounts.

However, there is one downside. Any amount of money that they accept into their account comes with a 2.5 percent transaction fee. Furthermore, these business accounts can also accept credit card payments, but that comes with an extra charge as well: 2.75 percent of whatever the total credit card transaction cost is.

If you're using Cash App just to quickly send money to a friend when you go out to eat or to easily split a dinner bill with friends, then a personal account should probably suffice.

However, if you routinely use the app or are selling goods and services and want to expand toward allowing folks to pay for items with their credit card, opting for a business account may be better suited to your needs.

In order to discern whether or not you have a business or personal account, do the following:

1. Open Cash App
2. Tap your profile picture (usually on the upper right hand side)
3. Tap on "Personal Information"
4. Scroll down. If your application says "switch from a personal to a business account," then you're rocking one that's for personal use.

If you're interested in hopping over to a business profile, there's another dialog box directly beneath the aforementioned one that you need to tap. Hit "change to a business account," and Cash App will walk you through the steps to make that transition.

Business accounts also allow Cash App users to receive their money instantly, with a smaller fee. There are also particular legal protections that come with having a business account. If you are exchanging money for goods and services, these are more than likely subject to whatever your state and federal jurisdictions' tax laws are.

So if there's ever a consumer gripe or inquiry into your financial records, keeping a record of these transactions in your Cash App Business Account may offer you a higher level of protection. Furthermore, the application also automatically generates a thorough breakdown of all your business transactions for tax purposes.

There's another downside besides transaction fees, however. Cash App business accounts are, as James McAllister Online writes, "responsible for chargebacks, which puts [account holders] at a higher risk of getting scammed."