Venmo: The Digital Wallet and Social Media App

Financial apps have become an important mode of transactional operations for individuals and companies alike. With a couple of swipes and taps, one can pay or withdraw large sums of cash using a secured gateway method. Apps like Venmo have become increasingly popular over the years for their continuous process of making online transactions smoother. Speaking of Venmo, the app not only offers seamless online payment services but also an amicable platform for those who love to socialise. Isn’t that fun? Let’s find out about the app in detail.

What is the Venmo app?

The Venmo app is a stark example of how convenient online transactions can be. The PayPal-owned financial app makes the process of sending and receiving money as easy as it says. The Venmo payment app is quite popular for its friendly features and robust security measures. 

Venmo aimed to introduce a new kind of payment system when its founders Andrew Kortina and Iqram Magdon-Ismail thought existing cash payment processes were ‘too lazy’. The money splitting app was then born out of the idea when one of the Venmo app creators forgot his wallet at home and had to pay through his phone. 

Whether it’s a monetary exchange between two flatmates or between a buyer and an international company, the Venmo cash app has revolutionized the online payment system. If you’re traveling with your loved one to any particular place, you’ll need to make sudden payments while shopping, touring or eating. In such cases, Venmo serves as the best couple app.

 In 2019, the app hit the 40 million mark on total users. 

In this Venmo app review, we’ll see what startling features the app has to offer which makes it one of the most sought after digital wallets.

How to use the Venmo app

Since 2009, Venmo has been gaining immense popularity for the right reasons. While we have already mentioned how flexible it is to make any e-payment, the money transfer app Venmo has some compelling aspects to it.

First off, the Venmo app logo    looks quite simple but has a bonny element to it. The overall design and feel of the application is quite alluring and gives out a millennial vibe to its users. Let’s talk about its usage.

Registration and the basics

The sign-up process is quite easy, you can register via Facebook or your existing email ID, or you can do it manually by entering its details. While signing up, it takes you through a set of FAQs that elaborates the basic functionality of the application. 

Once registration is done, the Venmo money app takes you to the home page where you have three main options to look at. 

• The two people icon in the centre allows you to see your friends from your contacts who have paid or received money from other people.
• On the right to the two-person icon is the single person icon which is your profile and displays your transaction history. 
• On the left is the earth/world icon which is quite similar to your social media account where you find people using the app and go through their profile.

Setting up your account

Before you can make any payment, the Venmo mobile app requires you to enter your banking details to set up your payment account. While the Venmo app will automatically take you through the setup process, you can also manually do so by going through the following steps:

• The Menu (?) icon of the left has the Settings (??) option. 
• The Settings option further provides you with the Bank & Cards (????) option
• You can attach a maximum of two bank accounts
• If you’re linking your credit card to your Venmo account, it will charge you a 3% fee for every payment made

How to pay using the Venmo app?

• The ‘New’ option on the top right of your home screen takes you to the list of recipients from your contact list. You can add other Venmo users through their names, usernames or phone numbers.
• After selecting the recipient, you can enter the amount that you owe him/her.
• You can type in a message to explain what the payment is about.
• There is an option to make your transaction Private, Friends or Public. 

A more systematic way of receiving pay

The Payment received option is quite interesting and different. When someone pays you an amount via the app, it doesn’t go directly into your bank account; it stays with the Venmo payment app unless you manually transfer it to your account. It’s quite easy actually.

• An automatic notification highlighting the same will pop-up on your screen. On the side menu screen, below your photo badge and name, you’ll find a currency amount present. 
• Among the options, choose the Transfer to Bank option.
• The next simple steps include the exact amount of money to be transferred and on which bank account it should be credited to.

If you have used the PayPal app, this is totally similar.

A combination of e-wallet and social media?

Now, this is where the app gets an edge over its competitors. A financial app is usually meant to settle payments, but what if there's a B-Side to it that makes it a lot more cooler? Even the payment option offers additional attractive options like emojis as discussed in the above section.

It's a totally consent-based application where you can see people's transactional updates if they allow it to be seen. The cash app Venmo allows you to share moments, split dining bills, send birthday gifts and allow a platform for communication. 

Hits and Strikes

Hits

• The user-friendliness of the app is flawless
• Extremely helpful for splitting bills and paying instant cash
• Act as a social media app with a unique set of emojis
• The Venmo app customer service is prompt and helpful

Strikes

• Post receiving the amount, it is not directly credited to your account and has to be manually done
• If you don’t make it private, people can see your transactions publicly
• Cannot be used for those who don’t have a Venmo account.

Quick Facts 

• Venmo was founded by Andrew Kortina and Iqram Magdon in 2009
• Venmo was acquired by Braintree in 2012 for $26.2 million. 
• In 2013, Braintree was acquired by PayPal for $800 million which makes Venmo a subsidiary of PayPal.
• Total Funding amount received- $1.3 million after 3 rounds of funding raised.
• Total investors — 10
• PayPal, including Venmo, raised and contributed $530 million to support Black and minority-owned businesses and communities in the US during the wake of the #BlackLivesMatter movement.

The Verdict

Design- 5 stars
Usability- 5 stars
Features- 4.5 stars
Reliability- 4.5 stars

MAD rates- 4.7 stars

Whether you are using the Venmo app for Android or the Venmo app for iPhone, as a user you are likely to have a great experience while making quick payments at any given moment. 

The second quarter of 2019 showed that Venmo ended up processing over $102 billion in P2P transactions. The app for splitting money now has over 50 million users as confirmed by the company CEO. The most striking fact about the app is the revenue generated that rose to over $450 million last year. 

We hope our app reviews help you in getting acquainted with various high-quality apps selecting the best ones from every genre.