Do you use a payment app to transfer money or pay bills? Seventy-six percent of Americans do, according to one study. And, if you focus on young adults ages 18 to 29, the percentage is even higher at 85 percent, according to a 2022 survey by Consumer Reports ( tinyurl.com/389xyr54).

PayPal, Venmo, Cash App, Apple Pay, Google Pay and Meta Pay are some of the big players in payment apps.

Those who don’t use payment apps may be concerned about safety. Of those who did not use a payment app, 58 percent said a major reason was that they did not trust the apps with their money, according to a 2022 Pew Research Study ( tinyurl.com/2yt6y8ek).

Before you reach any conclusions, I highly recommend you read “Analysis of Deposit Insurance Coverage on Funds Stored Through Payment Apps” by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s CFPB Office of Competition and Innovation and Office of Markets ( tinyurl.com/28zunfh4).

The report takes an in-depth look at the funds stored in payment apps and what insurance coverage applies to those funds.

The security of payment apps also was highlighted in a recent advisory by the CFPB.

Payment apps can facilitate moving money into and out of a bank account or credit union account that is linked to the app. Also, money can be stored in an app until it is moved into a linked account.

It’s important to know that money in a nonbank app is not like money in a bank or credit union that has deposit insurance coverage. (If you missed my column on Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation insurance for banks, write to me at [email protected], and I’ll send you a copy.)