Students may have seen tweets cross their feed recently promising easy money just for downloading an app and texting a picture of their student ID to a phone number.
The mystery of it has led to fear of a scam, but it’s a promotional deal created by Cash App, a company owned by Square, Inc., to get students to download and use the app, Tyler Doremus, Cash App growth marketing lead, said.
“It’s purely a way for us to get as many folks at Indiana University to use the Cash App and sign up,” he said. “The incentive that we’re offering is we’re sending them money.”
Cash App has been asking for students to text a phone number with the company a picture of their Crimson Card to ensure only IU students get the promotional money, Doremus said.
The promotion started in November, but the company started pushing it at the beginning of the year.
Doremus said the phone number students text is attached to a real person named Andrew whose full time job is to facilitate the payments.
The company has $200,000 to give to IU students. Doremus said there is roughly $150,000 left.
Sophomore Sammy Radabaugh texted the number but said he was a little worried it was a scam.
“It seemed like why would you just randomly give us $20?” Radabaugh said.
He said he didn’t send the number a picture of the back of his Crimson Card to be safe.
The company has seen rapid growth in the last four weeks, Doremus said. He said there is potential to expand this marketing strategy to other universities.
When senior Hannah Perkins saw the offer, she decided to try it because many people were talking about it on the internet.
Perkins said she already had Cash App and she uses it pretty often.
One way Cash App is getting the word out is by giving students money for students they get to download the app and text the number.
Sophomore Ryan Carr tried to get 10 people to sign up because he was told he would get $50. He said he only got seven to sign up.
Perkins said she tweeted about the promotion and put it in her group messages. She got $2 for posting about it.
“I don’t see why you wouldn’t use it,” Perkins said.
Editor's Note: This story has been updated to clarify the organizational structure of Cash App.
