Venmo is a free mobile app that lets you send and receive money with other people and approved businesses in the United States. You link a bank account, debit card, or credit card, then pay or get paid in a few taps. PayPal owns Venmo, sending personal money is free, and money you receive sits in your Venmo balance until you move it to your bank. Here’s how Venmo works, from setup to fees, the card, and safety.
What is Venmo?
Venmo is a peer-to-peer (P2P) payment app for US users, with more than 60 million accounts. It acts as a middleman: it pulls money from your funding source and drops it into the recipient’s Venmo balance, usually within minutes. PayPal has owned Venmo since 2013. Similar apps include Cash App, Zelle, and PayPal. Venmo runs as a phone app on iOS and Android; you can sign in on a computer to view activity, but you complete payments in the app.
How does Venmo work, step by step?
Venmo moves money between users in five steps:
- You link a funding source (Venmo balance, bank account, debit card, or credit card).
- You find the person by username, phone number, or email, or scan their QR code to confirm the right profile.
- You enter an amount and a note, then tap Pay (or Request to ask for money).
- The money lands in their Venmo balance almost instantly.
- They spend the balance or cash it out to their bank.
How do you set up a Venmo account?
You set up Venmo in the app in about five minutes:
- Download the Venmo app from the App Store or Google Play.
- Sign up with your email or phone number and create a password.
- Verify your phone with the code Venmo texts you.
- Add your details: legal name, a username, and a profile photo so people recognize you.
- Link a payment method: a bank account, debit card, or credit card.
- Set your privacy to Private (more on this below), then start paying. To find people, see our guide to adding friends on Venmo.
What is the Venmo social feed, and how do you stay private?
Venmo has a social feed that shows who paid whom and the note (often an emoji), but never the dollar amount. You control who sees your payments with three settings:
- Public: anyone on Venmo can see the transaction. This is the default, so change it for privacy.
- Friends: only your Venmo friends and the other person’s friends can see it.
- Private: only you and the person you paid can see it.
Amounts are always hidden, and you can change the setting anytime. Set it to Private before your first payment. For more, see sending money anonymously on Venmo and blocking someone on Venmo.
What do you need to sign up for Venmo?
You need to be in the US and meet a few requirements. To open a personal account you must be at least 18 (or the age of majority in your state), have a US cell phone number not tied to another Venmo account, be physically located in the US, and have a valid email. Venmo lists the full rules in its account requirements. Teens aged 13 to 17 can use a Venmo Teen Account managed by a parent.
Can you use Venmo without a bank account?
Yes. You can run Venmo with just a debit or credit card, or your Venmo balance, so a linked bank account isn’t required to pay people. The one catch: without a linked US bank account, you can’t cash out your balance. You can also Venmo yourself by linking two sources.
How do you send, request, and split money on Venmo?
You tap Pay/Request, pick a person, and enter an amount and note. Tap Pay to send, or Request to ask someone to pay you (they get an alert and pay in one tap, though a request isn’t a guarantee). To split a bill, send one Request to several friends for their share. Sending a personal payment from your balance, bank, or debit card is free. You can also set up recurring payments, and you can see what happens next in receiving money on Venmo.
How do you cash out Venmo to your bank?
You move your balance to your bank two ways, and the speed sets the price:
| Cash-out type | Speed | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Standard transfer | 1 to 3 business days | Free |
| Instant transfer | About 30 minutes | 1.75% (min $0.25, max $25) |
An instant transfer reaches an eligible bank account or debit card; standard is free if you can wait. If your account is frozen, see getting money out of a frozen Venmo account.
What does Venmo cost?
Most everyday use is free. There’s no signup or monthly fee, and fees only apply in specific cases, per Venmo’s published fee schedule:
| Action | Fee |
|---|---|
| Personal payment from balance, bank, or debit card | Free |
| Standard bank transfer (cash out) | Free |
| Instant transfer | 1.75% (min $0.25, max $25) |
| Paying with a linked credit card | 3% |
| Getting paid for goods and services | 2.99% (paid by the seller) |
| Cashing a check / buying or selling crypto | Each carries its own fee |
In short: personal payments and standard cash-outs are free, while instant transfers, credit cards, and seller payments carry fees. The full breakdown lives in our guide to Venmo limits and fees.
What is the Venmo card?
The Venmo Debit Card is a Mastercard (issued by Bancorp Bank) tied to your Venmo balance, so you can spend that balance anywhere Mastercard is accepted and withdraw cash at ATMs. There’s also a Venmo Visa Credit Card issued through Synchrony Bank. See our guides to the Venmo debit card and finding your Venmo card number.
Where can you use Venmo to pay?
Beyond paying friends, you can pay approved businesses: online stores that show “Pay with Venmo” (such as Amazon, Poshmark, Uber Eats, and Grubhub), some in-store retailers like CVS through a Venmo QR code, and the Venmo card anywhere else. Most sit-down restaurants don’t take it directly, which we cover in restaurants that accept Venmo. You can also add gift cards to Venmo, and check whether Venmo works with Chime.
What else can you do on Venmo?
Venmo includes several extra features beyond paying people:
- Buy and sell crypto: buy, hold, and sell Bitcoin and other coins in the app (fees apply).
- Cash a check: cash payroll or government checks to your balance (a fee applies).
- Direct deposit: get a routing and account number to receive your paycheck early.
- Business profiles: accept customer payments, with the seller paying the goods-and-services fee.
- Borrow: see borrowing money from Venmo and cash-advance apps that work with Venmo.
Is Venmo safe to use?
Venmo uses encryption, account monitoring, and an optional PIN or biometric lock plus multi-factor sign-in, and it’s regulated as a money transmitter. Two things to know. First, only send personal payments to people you know and trust: if you pay the wrong person, Venmo can’t force a reversal, so you have to ask them to send it back. Second, Venmo is not FDIC-insured and pays no interest, so don’t store large balances there. When you buy from a seller, marking the payment as goods and services adds Purchase Protection. Watch for common scams like fake giveaways that ask for your account details.
How much can you send on Venmo?
New, unverified accounts have a low weekly cap, and verifying your identity raises it sharply (up to a $60,000 combined weekly limit for fully verified users). The full breakdown is in our guide to Venmo limits.
Do you pay taxes on Venmo payments?
Personal payments to friends aren’t taxable, but business and goods-and-services payments can be. Venmo may issue a 1099-K tax form if your goods-and-services payments pass the IRS reporting threshold for the year. Personal gifts and reimbursements don’t count, so label transactions correctly to avoid confusion at tax time.
Key takeaways
- Venmo is a free US mobile app for sending and receiving money, owned by PayPal.
- The social feed is public by default, so set your privacy to Private.
- Personal payments and standard cash-outs are free; instant transfer costs 1.75%, credit cards 3%.
- You can also buy crypto, cash a check, set up direct deposit, and use the Venmo card.
- Venmo is not FDIC-insured, payments can’t be force-reversed, so only pay people you trust.
