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Americans continue to dive into the digital payment movement. In 2021, 82% of Americans used digital payments, up from 78% the previous year and 72% in 2016, according to a McKinsey & Co survey.
A key part of the digital payment revolution is the rise of mobile payment apps, including Venmo. Owned by PayPal, Venmo enables users to quickly send and receive money. Users also can make purchases through the app. As of November 2021, Venmo—available only in the U.S.—had more than 80 million users.
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How Does Venmo Work?
At its heart, Venmo is a cash-free way of sending and receiving money. For instance, you can use Venmo to split a dinner tab with a coworker, pay for your portion of a taxi ride you shared with your aunt or send your half of the monthly rent to your roommate.
Venmo’s functionality goes beyond that, though. You also can:
- Make purchases with Venmo’s Mastercard debit card anywhere in the U.S. where Mastercard is accepted
- Pay for purchases through apps and mobile websites from authorized Venmo partners
- Use an in-store QR code to make a purchase with Venmo
- Cash certain checks after you’ve verified your identity by applying for a Venmo debit card or setting up direct deposit
- Sign up for direct deposit for your paycheck to go straight to your Venmo account, up to two days earlier than your usual payday
- Receive price alerts about four types of cryptocurrency (Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash) that you can buy, sell or hold through Venmo
Venmo’s app works on iOS and Android devices.
Who Can Use Venmo?
Venmo has three main requirements for using the app. You must:
- Be located in the U.S.
- Have a U.S. cell phone that can send and receive text messages using short codes; in the U.S., short codes are five- or six-digit numbers for texting
- Be at least 18 years old (in most cases)
If you want to transfer money from your Venmo account to your bank account, you need to have a U.S. bank account or a debit card that can be used for instant transfers of money. If you don’t have access to a balance in a Venmo account, you must add a U.S. bank account, credit card or debit card to initiate payments.
If you have access to a Venmo account with a balance, you must add a U.S. bank account, credit card or debit card to initiate payments exceeding your Venmo balance.
What Does It Cost To Use Venmo?
Venmo doesn’t hit customers with monthly or annual fees. Furthermore, it doesn’t charge for basic services such as:
- Sending money from a linked bank account, a linked debit card or your Venmo account
- Accepting money that goes into your Venmo account or withdrawing money from the account
- Making a standard transfer to your linked bank account
However, Venmo charges for some premium features and other services. These include:
- A 3% fee when you use your credit card to send money to someone
- A 1% fee (with a $5 minimum) for using the check-cashing feature for faster deposits of payroll and government checks
- A 5% fee (with a $5 minimum) for using the check-cashing feature for faster deposits of non-payroll and non-government checks
- A 1.5% fee (minimum 25 cents, maximum $15) for instantly transferring money from your Venmo account to your eligible linked debit card or bank account
- Fees ranging from 50 cents to 2.3% for buying and selling cryptocurrencies
How Long Does It Take To Send Money to Your Bank?
The time it takes to shift money from your Venmo account to your bank account depends on the type of transfer you initiate.
A no-fee standard transfer from your Venmo account to a linked U.S. bank account typically takes one to three business days.
An instant transfer lets you send money from Venmo to an eligible U.S. bank account or Visa or Mastercard debit card, typically within 30 minutes. However, the instant transfer will cost you. There’s a 1.5% fee (with a minimum fee of 25 cents and a maximum fee of $15). An instant transfer can be done 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
What Are the Dollar Limits for Venmo?
Venmo imposes spending limits for person-to-person payments, purchases with the Venmo Mastercard debit card, online and in-app purchases made with your Venmo account and purchases with an in-store QR code.
If you haven’t yet verified your identity, your combined weekly spending limit for all transactions is $299.99.
If you have verified your identity, your combined weekly spending limit is $6,999.99. This includes person-to-person payments, in-app and online purchases, purchases with your Venmo Mastercard debit card and purchases using an in-store QR code. The weekly limit for person-to-person payments is $4,999.99.
In addition, you’re limited to $20,000 in cryptocurrency purchases per week and $50,000 in cryptocurrency purchases in a 12-month period.
Venmo also restricts how much money you can add to or transfer from your account.
If Venmo permits you to add money from a linked bank account, the weekly limit on how much you can transfer from your bank account into Venmo is typically $1,500.
If your identity hasn’t been verified yet, the limit on funds you can send from Venmo to your bank account is typically $999.99 a week. Once you confirm your identity, you can transfer up to $19,999.99 a week to your bank account. The one-time transfer limit is $2,999.99.
Instant transfers are limited to at least 26 cents and above. Standard transfers can be made for 25 cents or less.
Is Venmo Safe?
Generally, Venmo is considered safe.
Venmo says it employs encryption to help protect your account information and monitors your account activity to help spot unauthorized transactions. Also, it says it stores your information on computer services in secure locations. You can add an account PIN code through the Venmo app to boost security.
On top of all that, Venmo protects accounts with multifactor authentication. When you sign into your Venmo account, you may be asked to confirm your identity by entering a code that Venmo sends by phone or email.
Venmo cautions that its platform “is designed for payments between friends and people who trust each other. Avoid payments for goods and services, unless authorized by Venmo.”
To further improve security, Venmo now asks users to verify their identity through the Venmo app. Without verification, Venmo won’t let you tap into a Venmo balance to make payments, but you can still receive money and transfer funds to your bank account.
You’ll need a Social Security number or individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN) to verify your Venmo account.
“While there is always a risk in providing sensitive information to a company, identity verification is necessary to reduce the number of identity crimes,” the Identity Theft Resource Center says.
In a related move, Venmo now lets users pick a public, private or friends setting for their friends list on the app, and to opt out of being seen on the friends lists of other Venmo users.
The Identity Theft Resource Center warns that scams involving Venmo and other cash apps have escalated since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. On social media, via email and through text messages, scammers have targeted users of cash apps to steal their money or identities.
Common Venmo scams include:
- Informing someone by email or text message that they’ve won a prize from Venmo
- Calling a Venmo user to obtain their account information (Venmo doesn’t do this)
- Calling a Venmo user and pretending to be someone from Venmo tech support
- Selling something to a stranger who tricks you into believing they’ve paid for an item or service when they actually haven’t
Does Venmo Offer a Credit Card?
In October 2020, Venmo introduced a QR code-equipped Visa credit card providing 3% cash back on purchases. Cash back can be put toward cryptocurrency purchases without a transaction fee. The card doesn’t charge annual fees or foreign transaction fees.
The card is available to eligible Venmo users who apply through the Venmo app.
Bottom Line
Venmo offers an array of services beyond merely letting users transfer cash. However, Venmo users or those thinking about using Venmo should keep in mind that several of these services are not free. Venmo charges fees for some of its services. In addition, Venmo imposes dollar limits on a number of transactions. Despite the fees and transaction limits, users may find the value of Venmo’s all-around capabilities exceeds any costs they might incur.
FAQs
Venmo is a mobile app for peer-to-peer, or P2P, money transfers and payments. It's known for its timeline feed where you and your connections in the app can send payments to each other with emoji messages, but don't worry: The dollar amounts of transfers always remain private.
Does using Venmo cost money? ›
As noted, a simple Venmo transaction from a user's bank account, Venmo debit card, or Venmo cash balance is free of charge. If a credit card is used to pay, Venmo charges the sender a 3% fee.
Is Venmo safe to link to bank account? ›
Even if it seems reckless to send real money through an app, Venmo is relatively safe to use. That's because it uses data encryption technology to protect your account information, which means no one else can access your credit card or bank account.
How do you pay someone on Venmo? ›
How can I send a payment or request money with Venmo?
- Tap Pay/Request at the bottom of the screen.
- Search and add the person you want to.
- Enter an amount and add a note.
- Tap Request or Pay.
Though you can add a checking or savings account to Venmo, it's more secure to link it to a credit card. Though you'll be subject to a 3% transaction fee, credit cards typically have much stronger theft and fraud protection than a conventional bank account.
Is PayPal safer than Venmo? ›
PayPal offers similar security protections as Venmo, but it also provides a more robust set of security features for businesses.
Why does Venmo need my Social Security number? ›
Why is Venmo asking me for my personal information? Verifying your identity allows you to make payments using the money in your Venmo account and can enable you to send and transfer greater amounts of money on Venmo.
Is Zelle safer than Venmo? ›
However, while Zelle may appear more secure, applications like Venmo and PayPal are just as secure. All of them use data encryption to protect users against unauthorized transactions and store users' data on servers in secure locations. Venmo also offers users the ability to set a PIN code for access to the mobile app.
Does Venmo refund money if scammed? ›
Will Venmo Refund Money If You've Been Scammed? In most cases, the answer is no. There is no way to cancel a Venmo payment once it's been sent. Venmo also typically doesn't get involved in financial disputes between users (instead, you're better off contacting your bank).
Why is Venmo charging me a fee? ›
If you send money using a credit card, Venmo adds a three percent fee (which is the fee from the credit card company being passed on to you). You can avoid the three percent purchase fee by only sending money from your Venmo balance, bank account, or debit card.
Whenever you receive a payment on Venmo, that money is put into your Venmo account. You'll need to initiate a bank transfer to send the funds to your bank account. You can send the money in your Venmo account to your bank using the Standard or Instant method.
What is the minimum amount to Venmo? ›
There is no minimum transfer limit. Instant Add Money: Available only to some Venmo debit card holders, Instant Add Money enables these customers to instantaneously transfer up to $500 a week from their verified bank accounts.
What banks work with Venmo? ›
What Banks Use Venmo? Venmo allows credit, debit and prepaid, network branded (American Express, Discover, MasterCard, Visa, etc.) cards registered under your name to be added to your Venmo account for payments. This means that it should work with any US bank.
How long does it take to receive money on Venmo? ›
Bank transfers typically arrive within 1 to 3 business days. You can check the estimated arrival date in your personal transactions feed after initiating a transfer. Transfers are reviewed, which may result in delays or funds being frozen or removed from your Venmo account.
Can I transfer money from Venmo to my bank account? ›
3. Transfer funds to bank account
- Enter or edit the amount you would like to transfer to your bank.
- Tap “Instant” (for a small fee) or “1-3 Biz Days” (for no fee), and select your preferred bank account or debit card.
- Confirm your transfer details, and tap the green “Transfer” button.
Under the Mastercard network, purchases made with the Venmo Debit Card are covered by zero liability protection, meaning you won't be held accountable for unauthorized transactions. With Mastercard Global Service, you can report a lost or stolen card and receive an emergency replacement.
Does Venmo use your checking account? ›
You can fund your Venmo account with credit cards or your checking account, and you can fund money transfers with a credit card, debit card, prepaid debit card or a checking account, but not a savings account.
Why is Venmo asking for my bank password? ›
Venmo uses Plaid to verify your bank account information and, periodically, your bank account balance to check if you have enough funds to cover certain transactions.
Are there any cons to Venmo? ›
The biggest downside to using Venmo is the potential for your money to be stolen. If a hacker gains access to your Venmo, it's pretty easy to change the associated bank account – so the hacker could change the account to their own and transfer the money in your Venmo to their bank.
Why does everyone use Venmo? ›
In short, Venmo works best as a way for people to digitally exchange money using the Venmo app, as opposed to using cash or checks. PayPal can do many of the things that Venmo does, but it is designed mostly as a way for people to buy and sell online.
Three methods are available in Venmo for sending money: your bank balance, a debit card, or a credit card. While the latter will cost you a 3 percent fee on each transaction, it's also the most secure.
Does Venmo need my bank account number? ›
When providing your Direct Deposit details to an employer or other issuer, please be sure to confirm your account and routing numbers as they appear in your Venmo app. By failing to provide the issuer with your correct account and routing numbers, Venmo may be unable to deliver your funds to the correct account.
Why does Venmo need my driver's license? ›
We have part of the answer: Because Venmo is a money transfer service regulated by the federal government, it is required by the USA PATRIOT Act to implement a Customer Identification Program to verify the identities of users making transactions.
Does Venmo show your real name? ›
We understand that you may not use your legal name or not want others to see it on your profile, so you'll also be able to use a display name of your choosing on Venmo.
What is the safest way to send money to a stranger? ›
Venmo – semi-anonymous with wide availability (process the same as PayPal's) Cash App – flexible and anonymous app if you're willing to deal with the limits. Paying by cash – the most anonymous payment method. Third-party private payment services - many different types of services to choose from.
Which Cash App is the safest? ›
Cash App and Zelle are both safe digital finance platforms that use two-factor authentification and data encryption to keep your money and data safe.
Why do people use Zelle and not Venmo? ›
Both peer-to-peer apps are fast, but Zelle is the fastest — and it's free. Zelle transfers happen almost instantly. Venmo funds are available in your Venmo account right away, but it takes one to three business days to transfer them to your bank account.
Can someone steal your bank info from Venmo? ›
Venmo scams are schemes that trick Venmo users into sending scammers money or personal information, such as bank account details or Social Security numbers (SSN). While Venmo is mostly safe to use (if you follow certain precautions), Venmo users have become attractive targets for scammers for a few reasons.
Does Venmo ask for last 4 digits of phone number? ›
The PayPal-owned, hugely popular person-to-person payment app is testing a feature that prompts senders to enter the last four digits of the intended recipient's phone number if the two aren't in each other's networks or haven't exchanged money before.
Is it safe to give someone your Venmo username and email? ›
Never click on links in emails or texts supposedly sent by Venmo. Never do business with strangers through the Venmo app. And never provide anyone – even if this person says he or she is with Venmo – your personal or financial information through email or text.
A 1.75% fee (with a minimum fee of $0.25 and a maximum fee of $25) is deducted from the transfer amount for each transfer.
How do I avoid charges on Venmo? ›
While Venmo does charge some fees, it's fairly easy to avoid them. If you use your Venmo account to pay friends or businesses, you can avoid fees by only paying with your Venmo balance or connecting a bank account or debit card instead of a credit card.
How does Venmo appear on bank statement? ›
If you use your Venmo account, which includes a transaction via your bank account, that will usually show up on your bank statement. But if you only used the app without using your linked bank account, it will not reflect on your bank statement.
What is the maximum amount you can receive on Venmo? ›
Venmo limits for personal accounts include a $4,999.99 weekly limit on sending and receiving money. There is also a $999.99 transaction limit, which means you cannot send or receive more than $999.99 in a single transaction.
How long can money sit in Venmo? ›
If they don't claim any money sent within 30 days of the date it is sent, the payment will be cancelled and any money (including any fees you were charged) will be sent back to you.Payments for goods and servicesPayments for the sale of goods or services made using the Pay and Request feature in your Venmo account must ...
How much does it cost to send $1000 through Venmo? ›
How much does it cost to send $1,000 on Venmo? If you are using a credit card to send $1,000, you will incur a 3% fee for the transaction amount. For $1,000 that would be $30. If you are sending the funds using your Venmo balance, bank account or debit card, there will be no fees.
How much is too much to send on Venmo? ›
There's a $5,000 per transfer limit. If you want to transfer more than $5,000, you'll need to initiate multiple transfers. If you are using instant transfer, you'll need to make a transfer of at least $0.26 – you can't transfer less than $0.25 using instant transfer.
How can I use Venmo without paying a fee? ›
While Venmo does charge some fees, it's fairly easy to avoid them. If you use your Venmo account to pay friends or businesses, you can avoid fees by only paying with your Venmo balance or connecting a bank account or debit card instead of a credit card.
Why is Venmo charging $10? ›
There will be a fee if you transfer money to your bank account with an Instant Transfer. If you choose an Instant Transfer, Venmo charges one percent (with a minimum fee of 25 cents and a maximum of $10).
How much can you send on Venmo for free? ›
If you have not yet completed identity verification, you can send up to $999.99 to your bank per week (depending on security checks at Venmo) If you've confirmed your identity, you can transfer up to $19,999.99 to your bank per week. There's a $5,000 per transfer limit.
The fees for using a business profile are charged to the merchant rather than the customer, which is in line with industry standards. It's worth noting that Venmo users who make a payment to a business profile using a credit card will be exempt from the standard 3% Venmo fee on payments funded by credit cards.
What percentage does Venmo take? ›
Does Venmo Charge a Fee? Sellers with a Venmo Business Profile using Venmo to accept customer payments are charged a fee of 1.9% + $0.10 per transaction.
How much does Venmo charge for $20? ›
Venmo Fees To Know
1.9% of the transaction amount plus an additional 10 cents to receive payment for goods or services. 1.75% or a minimum of 25 cents or a maximum of $25 to transfer money instantly to a bank account or debit card.
Why can I only send $300 on Venmo? ›
If you have not yet completed identity verification, you will have a weekly spending limit of $299.99. This limit includes person-to-person payments and payments to authorized merchants. You can verify your identity in the Venmo app.
Will Venmo overdraft my bank account? ›
If you use your Venmo account to make a purchase that exceeds the balance in your linked bank account, you could incur overdraft fees, even if you chose not to allow overdrafts with your bank.
How long does a Venmo transfer take? ›
Bank transfers typically arrive within 1 to 3 business days. You can check the estimated arrival date in your personal transactions feed after initiating a transfer. Transfers are reviewed, which may result in delays or funds being frozen or removed from your Venmo account.
