About the Kiplinger Readers’ Choice Awards
The Kiplinger Readers’ Choice Awards aim to recognize and celebrate the best products and services in the personal finance arena. We asked you, our Kiplinger community, to help us name the products and services you think have delivered excellent value in the past year.
The survey results, which we’re sharing here in our second annual Readers’ Choice Awards, offer valuable insight into which providers shine when it comes to your everyday interactions and experiences with them. Our Awards recognize excellence in everything from credit cards, banks and brokers to insurers, tax software and financial apps. For each category, we’ve listed an overall winner that earned the highest score. We’ve also highlighted other products and services that earned above-average scores for various criteria we asked readers to assess.
By voting, our community has helped us form our guide to the very best financial products. These are the products and companies that you think stand out from the crowd.
Kiplinger Readers' Choice Awards: Peer-to-Peer Payment Services
Peer-to-peer payment apps have developed a wide reach as they have become faster and easier to use. Readers rated the P2P service that they use most based on ease of use, the likelihood they would recommend it to others and their overall satisfaction with the service.
OVERALL WINNER: Apple Cash
Outstanding for:
- Ease of use
- Most recommended
- Overall satisfaction
Readers compliment Apple Cash on its security features and ease of use. Those who have an Apple device (such as an iPhone, iPad or Apple Watch) can use Apple Cash — a reloadable payment card in Apple’s Wallet app — to send and receive money free with other individuals who have compatible devices. You can send payments through the Messages or Wallet app.
“Very easy to use and convenient,” one reader says.
PayPal
Outstanding for:
- Ease of use
- Overall satisfaction
PayPal, the payment app that started it all, is exceptional for its size and reach. You can send money to other people within the U.S. for free with PayPal if you draw the money from your bank account, your PayPal balance or an Amex Send account. The app charges 2.9% if funds are drawn from a debit or credit card.
Zelle
Outstanding for:
- Most recommended
- Overall satisfaction
Readers like that Zelle is free, facilitates speedy transfers and works directly through banks. “I like that it transfers funds instantly and from bank to bank. No need to have funds in yet another app,” says one reader. In a transaction, at least one user (the sender or receiver) must have access to Zelle through their bank or credit union.
