SKL Posted May 15, 2019 Share Posted May 15, 2019 Am I the absolute last person to know what this is? I think I need to pay for something on "Venmo" and I have absolutely no clue ... I assume it is something on the internet .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheReader Posted May 15, 2019 Share Posted May 15, 2019 I think it's an app; you put it on your phone (it may also have a computer based version if you don't have a smart phone) and you tell it your bank account info and it pays the person from your bank account or debit card, whatever you link it to It's relatively user friendly to set up, as long as you are comfortable with the app having the info 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted May 15, 2019 Share Posted May 15, 2019 It's an app. DS23 and DH have used it for a long time, and more and more merchants are starting to accept payment using it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoutTN Posted May 15, 2019 Share Posted May 15, 2019 So it works like Paypal? Does it charge a fee? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marbel Posted May 15, 2019 Share Posted May 15, 2019 Venmo is owned by PayPal: https://venmo.com/about/product/ Some transactions are free; some are not: https://venmo.com/about/fees/ I do customer service for a bank; I see lots of Venmo transactions moving money into and out of peoples' accounts. Very popular for paying individuals, like a babysitter. Or paying one's share of a bar tab... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrincessMommy Posted May 15, 2019 Share Posted May 15, 2019 We use it for college daughter. It helps us pay her back for housing/food/gas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teachermom2834 Posted May 16, 2019 Share Posted May 16, 2019 I recently got it to pay the guy who mows my yard. I never know when he is going to do it and I just don’t keep cash on hand. My college guys use it a lot for splitting the cost of a pizza or an Uber or whatever. It works really well for them. No more of the slacker mooch guy saying he doesn’t have cash and he’ll pay you back. Venmo is expected on the spot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zimom Posted May 16, 2019 Share Posted May 16, 2019 (edited) Take this advice or not. My husband is a banking attorney. He strongly advises against Venmo and similar cash apps. My understanding (from him) is that you do not have the same protection from your bank that you would have if your checking/savings account were compromised. He will not let our children use them. So, for example, you enter your banking information into the app and then the apps are hacked and your account is emptied, your bank does not legally have to make you whole again. Edited May 16, 2019 by ZiMom 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teachermom2834 Posted May 16, 2019 Share Posted May 16, 2019 14 minutes ago, ZiMom said: Take this advice or not. My husband is a banking attorney. He strongly advises against Venmo and similar cash apps. My understanding (from him) is that you do not have the same protection from your bank that you would have if your checking/savings account were compromised. He will not let our children use them. So, for example, you enter your banking information into the app and then the apps are hacked and your account is emptied, your bank does not legally have to make you whole again. This makes sense to me. I don’t have any actual knowledge but my gut feeling was that it didn’t feel totally safe. We do not link it to accounts with significant amounts of money in them. I made sure of that. I guess we are operating with an amount of money that we are willing to gamble with for the convenience. But honestly we don’t keep a lot of money in any of our debit card linked accounts. Even though the bank will make you whole again when there is fraud it is a huge pain and it isn’t immediate. We like the convenience but definitely buyer beware. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tree Frog Posted May 16, 2019 Share Posted May 16, 2019 1 hour ago, ZiMom said: Take this advice or not. My husband is a banking attorney. He strongly advises against Venmo and similar cash apps. My understanding (from him) is that you do not have the same protection from your bank that you would have if your checking/savings account were compromised. He will not let our children use them. So, for example, you enter your banking information into the app and then the apps are hacked and your account is emptied, your bank does not legally have to make you whole again. 1 hour ago, teachermom2834 said: This makes sense to me. I don’t have any actual knowledge but my gut feeling was that it didn’t feel totally safe. We do not link it to accounts with significant amounts of money in them. I made sure of that. I guess we are operating with an amount of money that we are willing to gamble with for the convenience. But honestly we don’t keep a lot of money in any of our debit card linked accounts. Even though the bank will make you whole again when there is fraud it is a huge pain and it isn’t immediate. We like the convenience but definitely buyer beware. I chose to add my credit card and pay the fee because of these concerns. We don't keep a lot of money in our debit accounts, either, but they may be linked to our savings accounts for overdraft protection. We don't usually opt for overdraft protection because we generally don't need it, but if the savings accts are at the same bank using the same social security numbers, I get antsy that they could somehow be hacked. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuPanda Posted May 16, 2019 Share Posted May 16, 2019 I billed my daughter for 20 years of support on Venmo. She declined the charge. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzanne in ABQ Posted May 16, 2019 Share Posted May 16, 2019 We have a second checking account that we use only for PayPal and Venmo. Not only is it a separate account, but it is at a different bank than our main bank. We keep only limited funds in that checking account, or in the savings account we have there. It's very convenient, and I'm not worried at all about it somehow being linked to our main bank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKL Posted May 16, 2019 Author Share Posted May 16, 2019 Well, I decided to just go into my bank's online stuff and electronically write a check that will be mailed to the person. There is no charge for this service. It does take some days to get there, but the payment is not due until the 24th. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheReader Posted May 16, 2019 Share Posted May 16, 2019 9 minutes ago, SKL said: Well, I decided to just go into my bank's online stuff and electronically write a check that will be mailed to the person. There is no charge for this service. It does take some days to get there, but the payment is not due until the 24th. One thing with this, give the person a heads-up that it will come in an envelope that looks like it is junk mail. We've had a person accidentally toss a payment we sent that way (and we've almost thrown away one ourselves). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKL Posted May 16, 2019 Author Share Posted May 16, 2019 18 minutes ago, TheReader said: One thing with this, give the person a heads-up that it will come in an envelope that looks like it is junk mail. We've had a person accidentally toss a payment we sent that way (and we've almost thrown away one ourselves). Yes, I sent her a message to expect it. So far I have not had a payment like this lost. (I used to use it a lot to make certain donations & pay our piano teacher etc.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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