There are many methods of paying in physical stores or making top-ups, but so far none of them could be considered practical for paying small sums of money, shopping without using a credit card or debit card, transferring funds to and from other users or to quickly make phone top-ups with a simple tap on the screen. An app that promises to revolutionize the use of money by transforming our smartphone into an effective virtual wallet is Satispay, an app available for Android and for iOS that stands as a real alternative to PayPal in many usage scenarios, also thanks to its innovative budget management system.
We find out in this guide what Satispay is and how to use it to pay in physical stores, online stores and to make phone top-ups on the fly.
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What is Satispay and how to download it
Satispay is an app developed by an Italian team that aims to speed up everyday payments, so that you can use your credit card or debit card as little as possible.
Money transfers can be made between Satispay customers or in one of the affiliated stores (online or physical) or alternatively use the sum of money to make top-ups by phone.
In order to function properly, therefore, we will need a current account with direct debit support : it is not enough to use a prepaid card or a debit card with IBAN, you really need a real current account.
We can download the app for free from the links available here -> Satispay (Android) and Satispay (iOS).
If we are looking for more information on the service, we can visit the page available here -> Satispay .
To work properly, an internet connection is obviously required, since transactions are made online.
How to top up your Satispay account
The app works by choosing a standard amount of money, called Bugdet, which will be kept constant over time through weekly top-ups made by direct debit to a bank or postal account on Sunday of each week.
If we decide to have a weekly budget of € 100 and spend € 30 during the same week, the following Sunday will be charged a € 30 current account to restore the set budget.
If we receive money and exceed € 100 (for example we reach € 167), the difference on the budget will be credited the following Sunday, so as to always return to € 100 (in our example € 67 will be transferred to the bank account).
With this system you always keep your weekly spending budget under control.
We can choose different budgets and for bugdets over € 200, it is sufficient to make a signed request to the assistance of the app to get the budget increase to € 500.
If the bugdet ends we will not be able to reload it until the following Sunday: currently Satispay's policies on payments do not allow to replenish the budget before Sunday, so if the money runs out we will no longer be able to buy (excellent to keep the expenses of young and very young at bay ).
How to pay in physical and online stores
Satispay can be used in affiliated physical stores even for very small amounts: if so far (at least in Italy) paying for a coffee or newspaper with a credit card was seen as an unwelcome thing (also because of the commissions applied on the use of cards by merchants), with Satispay paying small sums of money (but also large sums, always within the budget) will be a walk : just enter the affiliated shop (just look for the window sticker at the entrance), take what you want, go at the cashier and choose to pay with Satispay.
At that point we log in to the app (via PIN or fingerprint / FaceID on the supported smartphones) insert the sum we have to pay and confirm: the operator will immediately receive confirmation of payment and will be able to issue a regular invoice or receipt (Satispay it integrates on the computerized cashiers via app or firmware update, therefore it can be managed like any other payment system).
The app is able to geo-locate the user, so as to immediately show the partner shop as soon as the app is opened, so as to speed up payment even more; alternatively we can search for the shop thanks to the integrated engine or using the history section (which will show all the shops already used in the past).
In online stores it is even simpler: payment is requested with Satispay and a notification with the payment request is received on the app, just confirm to start buying.
There are more and more chains, shops and supermarkets that support Satispay: we can have a list of merchants directly from the link here -> Shops with Satispay .
Cashbacks are also available on many stores, which allow you to recover part of the expenditure (between 5 and 50%) as a bonus, which will be immediately available on your budget.
For example, by spending € 10 on a Satispay store with 50% cashback, you will get back € 5 in bonuses to use for future purchases.
Cashbacks change constantly and are given for short periods, better take advantage of it when we find one available.
How to send and request money from other users
Sending or requesting money to other people has never been easier!
If the other person to whom we have to send money has Satispay on the smartphone, we will see it appear in the list in the Contacts section.
We tap on the person's name and enter the amount of money to be transferred; the transfer is completely free and without any type of commission!
If, on the other hand, we want to send a payment reminder to a friend or relative, all we have to do is open iMessage (on the iPhone), tap on the conversation with the user (also registered with Satispay), tap on the bottom of the Satispay and indicate the amount you expect to be returned.
The user can pay the sum simply by tapping and confirming on the link received via iMessage.
How to make phone top-ups
Another highly appreciated feature on Satispay is the possibility of making top-ups for TIM, Vodafone, Wind, 3, Postemobile, Fastweb and other operators telephone numbers.
To top-up, simply go to the Top-up tab, select the operator, the phone number to be top-up (also by choosing from the phone's phone book), enter the sum and proceed to payment.
Top-up is always very fast, usually it takes just a few seconds to have the credit updated.
The app also creates convenient top-ups for top-ups, so that you can top-up a user you have already top-up in the past with all the parameters already configured, we will only have to select the sum.
