Venmo App Review

What we like about Venmo

Venmo is one of the most popular money transfer apps in the US — and for good reason.

It’s free to use (almost entirely)

Venmo doesn’t charge you any one-time signup fees or monthly service fees to use the app. Plus, it’s also completely free to receive and send money to a debit card, bank or personal account. There are no fees if you load cash via direct deposit, either.

You can load your Venmo balance with a bank account or debit card for no fees and then transfer your Venmo balance to a linked account for free if you’re OK with the standard transfer time of one to three days. There’s a small fee for an instant transfer, but it’s completely optional.

However, there is a 3% fee to send money with a linked credit card.

User-friendly app

Another feature we appreciate about Venmo is its user-friendly app. The interface is clean, intuitive and beginner-friendly. So, even if you’re new to the platform, there’s virtually no learning curve.

Venmo also has plenty of social elements that let you attach comments and emojis to transfers. This feature allows you to communicate with your friends and make money transfers feel a little more personal.

Venmo debit and credit cards

Though Venmo is known for its money transfer app, it also offers debit and credit cards that allow you to earn rewards on your spending. With the Venmo debit card, you can spend the money in your Venmo account balance and earn up to 5% cash back from places you already shop.

With the Venmo credit card, you could also earn 3% cash back on your top spend category, 2% on the next and 1% on all other eligible purchases. Neither card has a monthly fee or minimum balance requirement.

Where it falls short

Venmo isn’t a bank, and the app isn’t perfectly designed to replace a traditional bank account.

Venmo is only available to users who reside in the US, so you can only use it to send domestic money transfers. If you need to send money abroad, consider apps like PayPal instead.

Additionally, users’ payments are shown in a public global social feed by default, but this feature was dropped in July 2021 in response to criticism over privacy. However, today, you can still see transactions among people who aren’t your friends if you visit their profiles.

Transfer limits

Venmo sets several transfer limits for users, including the following:

• You can only send up to $999.99 to your bank per week if you haven’t completed identity verification.
• Even if you’ve confirmed your identity, you can only transfer up to $19,999.99 to your bank per week.
• You can only transfer up to $5,000 per transfer.
• If you are using instant transfer, you’ll need to transfer at least $0.26.

Venmo fees and access

Type of fee	Fee details	How to avoid it
Monthly fee	$0
Available on App Store	Yes
Available on Google Play	Yes
Supports external account connection	Yes
Instant funding	1.75% of the total amount; min $0.25, max $25	Use standard funding to avoid fees
Funding limits	$10,000 per week via bank account $3,000 per week via debit card
Send money with credit card	3% of transaction amount	Use debit card or Venmo balance
Out-of-network ATM withdrawal	$2.50	Use MoneyPass ATMs inside the U.S.
International ATM withdrawal	$2.50
Over-the-counter cash withdrawal	$3.00
Credit card late payment fee	$41	Pay your statement on time
Credit card returned payment fee	$41	Ensure funds are available before paying
Credit card paper statement fee	$1.99 per month	Opt for paperless billing

How do I request and send money through the Venmo app?

It’s easy to request and send money through Venmo. Here’s how it works:

1. Login to your Venmo account.
2. Select the button that says Pay or Request at the bottom of the screen.
3. Select the recipient through phone contacts, Facebook contacts or enter the person’s username in the search function.
4. Add a custom message (optional).
5. Adjust the visibility settings of your transaction using the Privacy button, which appears above the Request/Pay buttons towards the bottom of the screen. You can allow the transaction to be visible to everyone.
6. Select either Request or Pay.
7. View your Venmo account balance. Funds will be taken from here first. If the balance is insufficient, the full amount will be taken from the bank account or card linked to your account. You can’t use multiple payment methods to fund a single payment.
8. Hit Send to submit the transaction.

Is Venmo safe?

Venmo has a number of industry-standard security measures in place to protect your personal data and financial information. These include:

• Data encryption. Venmo uses encryption to block unauthorized access to your account info and prevent fraud.
• Multifactor authentication. When logging in, Venmo may ask users to submit a one-time code to access their accounts. This code is sent to the phone number associated with the account.
• Optional PIN and touch ID. Users can make it harder for unauthorized users to access their accounts by adding a personal identification number (PIN) and/or touch ID to the login process.
• Ability to block phone access to your account. If you lose your phone, you can login to Venmo on any web browser and block your phone from accessing your Venmo account. Finding a lost phone is hard enough—you don’t need to worry about thieves accessing your money too.
• Reporting system for fraud. Venmo has dedicated resources to handling user reports of phishing and fraudulent activity (real or suspected). Users can email Venmo support for help. (If you’re the victim of fraud, you should also contact the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which collects scam reports across the nation.)

Customer reviews and ratings

Venmo isn’t accredited by the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and holds a low rating based on over 600 reviews, and a poor rating on Trustpilot as well. Many of these negative reviews were centered around the app’s lackluster customer service, slow refund process, poor security and unexpected account restrictions.

That said, based on its reviews on Google Play and the App Store, customers seem to be pretty happy with the app. Venmo has a 4.9 out of 5 rating on both the App Store and Google Play, with millions of users praising how easy and convenient it is to use.

While Venmo’s online reviews are definitely mixed, it still has over 60 million users, so it’s clearly doing something right.

Frequently asked questions

How do I add funds to my Venmo account?

To transfer funds directly into your Venmo account, you have to have a Venmo Debit Card. Transfers take three to five business days. There’s no option to instantly transfer funds.

If you don’t have a Venmo Debit Card, your account balance is any funds you’re received through Venmo transfers from friends, assuming those funds haven’t been moved out of your account to a linked bank account or card.

What is Venmo’s transfer limit?

Users who haven’t verified their IDs can only send up to $999.99 per week. Send more by completing the in-app ID verification process.

Is Venmo international?

No. Currently, Venmo is only available to users who reside in the US, so you can only use it to send domestic money transfers. You can’t use Venmo to send an international money transfer.

Can I use Venmo for business?

Yes. Create a business profile with Venmo, so you can begin accepting payments from clients and customers online, in person or via Venmo’s app. Payments work the same for both personal and business transactions, so customers can continue using the app as they normally would.

What’s the Venmo transaction fee?

There is no transaction fee or transfer fee for sending or receiving money using Venmo. There may be a fee for using credit cards or an instant transfer option.

Does Venmo pair with cash advance apps?

While not all cash advance apps are integrated with Venmo, quite a few of the top cash advance apps work with Venmo.