Add Money To Venmo From A Credit Or Debit Card
The only way to add money directly to your Venmo balance is by using a bank transfer from a linked bank account.
However, it is possible to send money to people using Venmo even if your balance is zero. You can do this through a linked payment method.
When you send money to a friend or pay a seller, the money will come from your linked payment method rather than your Venmo balance if the payment or transfer amount is larger than your Venmo balance.
You dont need to have a positive Venmo balance to send money using Venmo. You just need a verified payment method. One of the payment methods you can use is a credit or debit card issued by your bank.
You can use your phones camera to add your credit or debit card information quickly and easily. You can also enter the card number and other details manually if you prefer.
Once your card is linked, you can select it as the payment method when you want to send money or pay a merchant using Venmo.
Please note that payments funded by credit cards are subject to a 3% fee unless the purchase is made from selected merchants.
You Cant Transfer Funds From Your Venmo Account To Your Credit Card
Though you can use a credit card to fund your Venmo transaction, you cannot use a Venmo balance to apply toward your credit card balance.
You must either spend your Venmo balance with merchants or withdraw through a handful of methods, which most notably include transferring to an attached bank account or debit card.
Once the moneys back in your bank account, you could then use those funds to pay your credit card balance.
How To Make The Most Of Adding A Credit Card To Venmo
The best reason to add a credit card as your Venmo funding source is to make the most of rewards points. The following steps can help you do that:
- Only use your credit card if you’re making a purchase that won’t incur a fee. Venmo lets you set up separate preferred payment methods. For example, if you’re buying a gift on Etsy from an authorized merchant, use your card and rack up rewards points. If you’re sending money to a friend, switch your payment method to your bank or debit card.
- Keep track of purchases made and money sent using your credit card. You want to avoid two things: running over your credit limit and spending more than you can afford to repay.
- Make sure you’re getting more than you’re giving. Is your primary reason for tying a credit card to your Venmo account to score rewards points? Then be sure to pay your credit card balance off in full each month so you’re not hit with interest payments that cost you more than points or cash rewards are worth.
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Venmo Vs Paypal: Business Features
Further cementing its reputation as the digital payments app of choice for merchants, PayPal offers a plethora of small business tools that are entirely absent in Venmos more person-to-person focused business model.
For instance, merchants who establish a PayPal Business account can use the service to essentially set up the financial transaction side of selling items online, making it easy to accept credit and debit card payments from all over the world. In exchange for this capability, merchants agree to a small percentage fee being subtracted on each transaction.
But PayPals support for small businesses goes far beyond accepting payments. PayPal Business also offers help with invoicing, product shipping, and marketing insights. Some services are included in the basic business package, while others are available to those with a PayPal Payments Pro account, which carries a monthly maintenance fee.
Growing businesses looking to scale can also benefit from PayPals provision of working capital and business loans.
How Does Venmo Work
To send and receive money through Venmo, you need to set up a Venmo account, and you can use the Android or IOS app to get started. There is no web browser option for Venmo you have to use the mobile app to send money, receive money and make purchases
Now, lets look at the main ways you can use Venmo.
Send money to family and friends. Venmo is a peer-to-peer money transfer service, meaning that you can use the service to send digital payments to family and friends. If you and your friends order takeout, for example, one person can pay for the entire takeout order and everyone else can pay them back through Venmo. You can even use Venmo to request money from people if you loan money to a sibling, for example, you can send them a payment request through Venmo. Roommates often use Venmo to split the cost of shared household expenses.
Make purchases online. Since Venmo is owned and operated by PayPal, it shouldnt surprise you that many online merchants accept Venmo as payment. If you see a PayPal button during checkout, you might have the option to pay with Venmo, as well. Some merchants even offer a Pay With Venmo button on their payment pages. When you make purchases online using Venmo, there are no fees even if you use a credit card.
You can fund your Venmo account with credit cards or your checking account, and you can fund money transfers with a credit card, debit card, prepaid debit card or a checking account, but not a savings account.
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Can I Transfer Money To Myself Through Venmo Summary
You can Venmo transfer money to yourself as long as your identity is verified and you have a Venmo Card.
Its important to remember that Venmo will ban an account immediately if they discover the same individual is trying to maintain multiple accounts. So instead, you can use Venmo to transfer money from your bank account or .
In general, Venmo transfers money to third-party services, such as Chime, Zelle, and PayPal, that are linked to a shared bank account. They allow you to use your Venmo balance instead of a bank account.
Some people may prefer not using their bank because Venmo appears on your bank statements. Its done for many reasons, such as buying a gift for your spouse that you dont want to be seen on your bank statement.
However, its important to have your phone number and email address verified with a phone number from the US to process transfers conveniently.
Ability To Purchase Crypto
A unique feature of the Venmo credit card is the ability to purchase crypto with your cash back. This is a fee-free way to purchase crypto automatically with each months cash back balance. The four regularly available cryptocurrencies that can be purchased on Venmo are Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin.
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Which Is Better: Cash App Or Venmo
The better payments app depends on your financial goals and spending habits. Both apps allow you to send and receive money from friends and family. Both apps also have cryptocurrency features. But Venmo offers a credit card and debit card, while Cash App only has a debit card. However, Cash App offers stock investing, while Venmo doesnt have this feature. Ultimately which is better for you will depend on your needs. Learn more by checking out our Cash App review.
How To Pay A Venmo Account With Paypal
So, with that said. Lets discuss how you can pay a Venmo account with your PayPal Mastercard. First, if you do not have a Mastercard from PayPal, youll have to wait until yours comes through the mail.
Now that you have your PayPal Master card. Youll have to include it in your Venmo account. Below are the steps to take to add your card to your account:
Once done, you will be able to pay another Venmo account with your PayPal Mastercard.
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Can You Buy Crypto On Venmo
Yes Venmo introduced cryptocurrency to its app in the second half of 2021, joining a movement along with other popular apps like PayPal, Cash App, and Robinhood. Cryptocurrency exploded in popularity in 2021, with huge increases in value by the big two cryptos: Bitcoin and Ethereum.
While apps like Venmo make it easier than ever for more people to buy crypto, there is good reason to proceed cautiously. As a relatively new asset class, cryptocurrency is extremely volatile fluctuating in price by the hour. Experts recommend keeping crypto investments to less than 5% of your total portfolio, and never to buy crypto before having a solid emergency fund in place, and paying down high-interest debt.
If you do decide to invest in crypto, its worth considering whether a cryptocurrency exchange is a better bet than an app like Venmo or Paypal. Mainstream cryptocurrency exchanges tend to come with more features and functionality, and also have greater trading volume and security measures that might be worth their extra complexity at least compared to apps like Venmo and Paypal.
Who Should Get The Venmo Card
If you regularly use Venmo and need quick access to your funds in the app, this card can be a good option for you. For example, you might find it useful if youre a student regularly receiving money from your parents, or if you often go out with friends and use Venmo to split the check. Since it doesnt cost anything to apply for or maintain the Venmo card, you dont have to worry about too many fees just use your card whenever its convenient.
On the other hand, if youre looking for a card to earn cash back, a rewards credit card is still your best bet. The Venmo Credit Card is one option, but any cash back credit card is likely to provide you with more value than the Venmo debit card, and some of them, like the Discover it® Cash Back or Citi® Double Cash Card, dont charge an annual fee.
If youre worried your credit score might prevent you from qualifying for a rewards credit card, a cash back debit card can be an alternative worth considering. For instance, look into the Discover Cash Back Debit card, which offers 1% cash back up to $30 a month with no fees, or the American Express Serve Cash Back card a prepaid debit account with unlimited 1% cash back.
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Can I Send Money From Venmo To Zelle
Yes, you can send money from Venmo to Zelle. Both payment services can be linked using a common bank account despite not being officially connected.
As a result, you can transfer money to anyone with an account at any US bank that supports Zelle transfers. If you wish to transfer money to friends who use Venmo, they must also have a bank account. It means that you can deposit money directly into the Venmo users bank account through Zelle.
Even if your bank does not support Zelle, you can still use it by connecting a Visa or MasterCard debit card however, it doesnt work like a regular . The Zelle money transfer limit is $500 per week from a debit card. The debit card limit is a slight drawback since Zelle has higher money transfer limits between bank accounts.
See our guide on how Chime works with Zelle.
Venmo Vs Paypal: Additional Features
As you can see, the two services present fairly similarly on basic features and fee structures. But there are a few areas in which the two apps differ markedly. For instance, with its strong focus on transactions between people who know each other personally, Venmo hosts a social feed of transactions that have taken place among people you know, as well as those of strangers, if you opt to view the public feed.
A scroll through the feed of transactions by your Venmo friends will show you who paid who, and with whatever note they shared. The only thing missing is the amount. The feed also supports emojis, which are almost more common than text in the Venmo social feed. When you make your own transactions in the app, sharing them publicly is the default, but you can change this to viewable only by your Venmo friends or only by the recipient, either globally or on a transaction-by-transaction basis.
Where PayPal stands out against Venmo is in its ability to be used by merchant sellers who are accepting payments, as well as shoppers and buyers at online and physical retailers. Originally established as the payments provider for eBay, PayPal excels in enabling transactions between people who dont know each other, including offering protections for both sellers and buyers that Venmo doesnt provide.
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Redeeming Venmo Credit Card Cash Back
Venmo will calculate your cash-back rewards automatically, so keeping track of your own spending is pretty hands-off. Your earned cash back will reflect in your Venmo account at the end of each statement period and your top spending categories reset every month, tailoring to your personal spending.
There are a few ways you can redeem your cash back, from using it to make purchases to authorized Venmo merchants, to cashing in to pay your credit card bill or completing Venmo requests. You can also take the cash back and deposit it directly in your bank account.
As a bonus, Venmo cardholders interested in digital currency can redeem their cash back rewards to buy crypto. Simply turn on the “purchase crypto” feature through the app and choose between the four cryptocurrency tokens available. Once your cash back is transferred to your Venmo account at the end of every month, Venmo will then use it to automatically purchase crypto without any transaction fee. Users, however, will still incur fees for any crypto purchased or sold outside of the cash-back feature.
Venmo Credit Card Cash Back Categories
Cash back on the Venmo credit card is customizable. Youll get 3% cash back on your top spending category, 2% on your next category and 1% on all other eligible purchases.
For example, if you spend the most on groceries, you can get 3% back on all those purchases. If the next thing you spend the most on is gas, youll receive 2% back on that. The rest of your purchases will earn 1%. No guesswork is required Venmo will identify your top spending categories for you.
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How To Get The Most Out Of Using A Credit Card On Venmo
Heres how to optimize your credit card use on Venmo to avoid fees and get the most value:
- Avoid a fee by using an American Express credit card with the Amex app: American Express has a new feature, called Send and Split, which it developed in partnership with Venmo and PayPal. When you add your credit card to Venmo using the process outlined above, youll have the option to link your American Express app. According to Venmo, we charge no fee for sending money using your Amex credit cards when you select this option.
- Use your credit card when it doesnt cost you: If you use another credit card besides American Express, only use it when it doesnt cost you a fee. In other words, use the card when purchasing from a Venmo-authorized merchant, as you wont incur a fee. Remember, using a credit card to Venmo money to friends and family triggers a fee equal to 3% of the transaction amount.
- Pay your credit card balance in full each month: If you dont pay your balance each month, youll accrue interest charges on your purchases, which will likely negate the value of any rewards you earn by using a credit card on Venmo.