How to Send and Receive Money with Venmo

Venmo is a free app owned by PayPal that lets you send money to friends and family using your phone. It's popular for splitting restaurant bills, paying back someone for groceries, or chipping in for a gift. Venmo is available on iPhone and Android, and most major banks support linking to it.

To get started, download the Venmo app from the App Store or Google Play. Create a free account using your email address or phone number. You'll need to verify your identity with your name, address, and the last four digits of your Social Security number — this is required by federal law for money transfer services and keeps your account secure.

Once your account is set up, link a bank account or debit card so you can send money. Go to Settings, tap Payment Methods, and follow the prompts. Venmo may make two small test deposits to verify your bank — check your bank statement and confirm the amounts in the app.

To send money, tap the Pay or Request button, search for your friend by name, phone number, or Venmo username, enter the amount, write a short note about what it's for, and tap Pay. Be careful — double-check the recipient before sending, because Venmo payments to strangers are very hard to reverse.

One thing to know: Venmo has a social feed that shows transactions (though not the amounts) to your friends by default. To keep your payments private, go to Settings, tap Privacy, and set future payments to Private.

When someone sends you money, it goes into your Venmo balance. You can spend that balance within Venmo, or cash out to your bank account. Standard transfers (1–3 business days) are free. Instant transfers (within 30 minutes) cost a small fee — usually 1.75% with a minimum of 25 cents.

Never use Venmo to pay strangers for goods or services from online listings. Venmo is designed for people you know personally. For security, set up a PIN or enable Face ID/fingerprint login so that only you can open the app.