Thanks for all the comments. @thumper1 - Glad to have Zelle comments here too. I picked VENMO because kids and extended family use it. (Til now, having credit union accounts tied has been sufficient for pushing money to the kids. But now there are times it would be handy to send to other family members. And also to receive money from the kids)
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I’m actually quite interested in the comments about Venmo risks. I get it that buying items from a stranger could be a gamble (with almost any payment method, except in-person cash). But tell us more about the “real bank” aspects of non-Venmo methods. I thought Venmo was owned by Paypal (which I also have but rarely use) so assumed similar setups.
Again, all you have to do is set your account to private and no one will see your transactions.
There are risks with PayPal.
There are risks with Venmo.
There are risks with writing checks and sharing your checking account info.
There are risks with paying cash.
There are always risks. What works best may be what venues the people you will be exchanging $ with use. We know that Venmo is pretty widely used. Is an alternative app widely used by your family or friends you might be splitting a bill with? If yes, great. If no, it might not be as helpful.
I find it very easy to keep track of Venmo exchanges because Venmo does a great job of sending transaction emails and a monthly summary. It’s easily seen on our bank statement.
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My kids use Venmo and have had no problems with it. Then again, they only use it to send and receive money with people they know. I’ve used it to pay my hairdresser.
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I agree there are risks with any method. In fact, sometimes when I set up autopay at my credit union I wonder what keeps other people from attempting to do same based on the info at bottom of my paper checks. (Yes, I’d notice fraudulent withdrawal on monthly statement… but it could be a pain getting money back).
I called my credit union today asking for any tips or concerns. The rep was very helpful. He explained (as I already knew) that it was 3rd party app, so they could not help if disputes etc. He also mentioned that they were investigating official setup with a TBD peer to peer system (P2P…. maybe something like Venmo or Zelle or possibly another system; they abandoned use of Payzer once used).
Per payment methods, he said it is possible to use the credit union debit card but that most members use checking account linkage. Of the setup two methods, Instant not possible because they don’t have a Venmo agreement (that’s fine… was not keen on doing method requiring my id and password). So I’ll use the micro transfer method https://help.venmo.com/hc/en-us/articles/221073067
With venmo, the money transferred comes directly out of your bank account. Very few protections.
With other methods, like paypal, the money may be charged to a credit card and you’d have whatever protections the credit card provides. Item ordered never arrives? Your credit card will reverse the charges. Item damaged or not as described? Same thing.
If you have a dispute with a venmo transaction, it is up to you to resolve. I don’t think about whether I know the seller or tranferee with a credit card purchase because I know I have protections. If my daughter had paid for the tickets with a credit card and it was a scam, she’d have been protected. With venmo, she was on her own to find the guy and sue him.
Venmo can fund via credit card, bank account, or Venmo balance. You can dispute with your bank or card issuer.
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Exactly. There’s less risk if your Venmo does not access your bank account or credit card for each and every transaction. That’s how I use mine…funded the account initially from bank account, send/accept money, transfer additional $ from bank account as needed.
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If you send money to someone using Venmo, I don’t believe you can fund via a credit card without incurring fees. Am I correct?
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You should
Credit card payments in Venmo have 3% fee added.
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We use Venmo and Paypal. The kids and their friends all use Venmo and Splitwise. But we have also used it to pay a few local folks, including vendors at a local farmers market. I would never do a big transaction on Venmo.
I use Paypal for credit card purchases (supposedly a bit safer) and for some of my wife’s business transactions (gallery pays her, etc.).
We don’t do a lot with banks, so Zelle hasn’t been available. We have accounts at two local small banks. At one, we have only a small savings/checking account and keep little in it and only use it to for ATM transactions (in case we need a bank check or something like that). The other has my wife’s business account. Neither bank used Zelle when I looked. Our checking account (and investment accounts are at brokerage firms and/or are custodied at large custodians. They don’t have any Venmo/Zelle/Paypal connections and except for our checking account, withdrawals above a small amount require both written authorization and a voice call to me or my wife. So, getting money out requires a fair bit of work.
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Huge fan of Zelle. I like that it is offered by my bank, which seems much more secure. People I send to don’t have to have a Zelle account. So no “you need a Venmo” scenarios.
I have Paypal for when I don’t want to share a credit card. Also, I do some freelance work, and often that’s how people will pay.
I don’t know much about Venmo, but haven’t seen a need for it.
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Interesting feedback about Zelle - thanks!
Just curious about how the Send works when recipient does not have an account. Do they just get a link in email or something?
I provide the email and they get a link. I’m not sure how it works at their part, but I’ve done it with some non-savvy folk and it has worked out fine.
They get an email link which asks them to set up their Zelle account.
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In Canada, they use something called Interac. It works well as well, but they don’t have Venmo or Zelle. Paypal does work in Canada, I’m pretty sure.
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I use Venmo to pay three people with whom I do business (at their request)–my cleaning lady, my dog sitter, and my hair stylist. The hair stylist went mobile during COVID and starting going to people’s homes to do hair; she wanted to limit client interaction, so she started billing via Venmo.
I rarely use PayPal because I once got scammed with a purchase on e-Bay (long story–PayPal wouldn’t help, but AMEX refunded my money). Anyway, I did use PayPal recently when I hired a geneologist in Croatia to help me do research on my family history. She asked if I could pay her via PayPal–said it was the best way to insure that she’d get paid.
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I played around with Venmo app this morn. Not crazy about the social-like app interface but won’t need to use it much (and probably will get easier as I’ve used it more).
MORE DETAILS follow:
At first I was unable to send my a friend money (she knew it was a test exercise), assumed it was because I only have it tied to debit card (not bank). So I had her send me $5. We both learned something because some how she “tagged this transaction as good or service”. She paid $5, I got $4.81
Venmo screenshot:
———-
So I fumbled around to try sending money to her. I was able to type in reason as “Friend” for $3 transaction from my debit card, and she got the full $3
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More info about the goods and services fee
https://www.pymnts.com/news/mobile-payments/2021/venmo-raises-p2p-transaction-fees-charge-goods-services-providers/
still not clear which payment selections trigger that
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