How To Use Venmo If You Are Under 18

What is Venmo and is it advisable for my kid?

Here are 5 FACTS every parent needs to know well-nigh Venmo:

#1 Ship, Pay, & Receive Money

Venmo began in 2009 equally a way to eliminate the "awkwardness of IOUs". Information technology provides a quick and convenient way to split and share payments with friends using their phones. The app, at present endemic by Paypal, has an estimated 10 million users. Its popularity has taken its proper proper noun noun and turned information technology into a verb: "Only Venmo me"

You start by linking your Venmo business relationship to your debit bill of fare, so adding your friends by their name, @username, phone, or email. Like PayPal, Venmo stores the money you receive on an in-app balance, which tin can fund your time to come payments (if there'south enough money) or be cashed out to your banking concern account.

Inside the app y'all tin ship coin to someone you've added as a friend, pay for a service (some companies allow you to pay with Venmo merely similar y'all would pay with "Apple Pay"), or receive coin from others. Venmo is now a go-to fashion to pay babysitters, collect payments as a small business owner, and to split the "tab" with friends.

#2 Social Feed

Paypal, who acquired Venmo in 2013, allowed for all of the same features of sending and receiving of money for years. What made Venmo different and very popular was its social feed.

Like other social media feeds, the Venmo social feed lists who of your friends are sending/receiving money. With the ability to add a message (with emojis) to indicate why yous're sending money, the feed became a transparent await into everyone's lives and spending habits. Who went out with who last night and which roommate pays the utility bill each month.

The social feed gives 3 viewing options: (1) everyone on Venmo, (2) your friends, or (3) yourself.

If the thought of everyone knowing your transaction history sounds creepy, Venmo's privacy settings allow for "private" fashion where only sender and receiver sees the transaction.

#3 Totally Gratis?

Nosotros must e'er ask the question, "If you tin use the app for free, how does the visitor make money?"

Venmo makes money in a diversity of means. If you send coin using a credit bill of fare, Venmo adds a three percentage fee (which is the fee from the credit carte du jour company being passed on to you). There is also a fee of one percent if you transfer money to your banking concern account with an Instant Transfer.

Nevertheless, Venmo besides makes money by charging authorized merchants when you lot purchase products and services. Businesses will be charged 2.9% of the payment and 30 cents per transaction. Businesses who desire to reach the younger generation (especially college students) willingly hold to take these charges every bit means to tap into this market. Also, these authorized merchants can utilize the social feed for ad.

All in all, the data that is generated by knowing who, when, and where people are spending coin is very valuable to companies.

#4 Security/Condom concerns

Venmo automatically uses multifactor authentication when you utilize the app from a new device, which helps prevent unauthorized logins to your account. However, unlike PayPal, Venmo doesn't offering heir-apparent or seller protection. Therefore, if you sell and ship something merely so don't get paid, you're out of luck.

With Venmo's popularity among immature people, scammers like to prey on this generation through Venmo. The best way to avoid scams is to avoid strangers. Merely trusted, well-known people accustomed as friends. Payment reversals requires the permission of the other user and those funds must still remain in their Venmo balance.

Additionally, in that location is the privacy business organization of others knowing who you are paying or who is paying you. Not only could this pb to unnecessary drama amidst friends and family merely it is also convenance grounds for stalking.

Finally, a note concerning connecting your contacts and social media profiles with Venmo. Enabling Facebook Connect automatically adds your Facebook friends to your Venmo friends, "then that you can hands find and pay them". Venmo and so accesses your email accost, Facebook friends list and public contour. Thus, even if you don't desire to share your information with Venmo, your Facebook friends or telephone contacts can choose to share your information via their business relationship.

#5 Parental Controls & Ratings:

Apple tree Store: 4+
Google Play: E (Everyone)
Venmo: eighteen
Brave Parenting: 18

Venmo's terms of service states that to create an account you must be 18 years old. This requirement solitary leads Brave Parenting to recommend 18 years old be the earliest age to use Venmo.

Chances are, however, your high school anile kid has stated their "need" for Venmo. Whether it's the family they babysit for, the neighbour whose lawn they mow, or the actress-curricular group leader they need to pay for t-shirts; adults often desire the teenagers to have a Venmo and then they can easily exchange money. As Venmo continues to become more and more than of a regular practice, this event will continually come upward. The fact is, very few Millennials write checks.

Because of this, an alternative solution is for you, the parent, to download the app and create an account for your teen. Y'all tin still link your teen'due south debit card to the account in society to promote financial responsibility. When money needs to exist exchanged, have your teen come and talk over the transaction they need to brand. If you corroborate, they can use the Venmo app on your telephone to complete the transaction.

This option allows the teen to have supervised practice using the app while still accomplishing the necessary money transfers. We recommend encouraging your teen to make their transactions "Private" between simply them and the receiver as much as possible.