As any college student knows, Venmo is the most superior form of payment. This being said, students should know, is Venmo the safest and most secure methods of transaction? The short answer is that yes, it is a very secure and safe way of transferring funds.Venmo uses an application programming interface (API), which is basically how they access the user’s data while they are using the application. Venmo stores user data on servers in secure locations and uses encryption to protect payment information. This offers a secure and easy way to send money to other users.
There are more ways to make your account more secure within the app. An optional added security measure is to add a PIN, FaceID, or fingerprint scan to access the app before making any transactions. Venmo also offers a friends only or private option to all payments, so the public cannot see the users money transfers. Users should also try not to have too much money in their account balance, in case a hacker is trying to access their account. In general, Venmo is very safe and secure to use with transactions, just don’t give your password to a stranger.
https://www.bankrate.com/finance/credit-cards/is-venmo-safe/
When I think about Venmo I think about it as a very safe app to use to transfer money to my friends and my bank account. I find the application very user friendly and it is almost an instantaneous process in terms of transferring money from one person to another. I have never had any difficulties looking up the person I am attempting to pay or receive money from, especially because there is an option to link your contacts to your friends list. I also find that having to transfer money to my bank is not much of a problem at all either. The only thing that is slightly frustrating about transferring to the back is that there is a fee you need to pay if you want the money to be in your account within a day. Although I have had great success with the app, I have heard from friends that sometimes the money they are trying to transfer to the bank does not end up getting to their account. This can create a big issue if someone is attempting to transfer a large amount of money to their account and it all goes missing.
Reading more up on how safe Venmo actually is, to my pleasant surprise I have learned that the application is indeed very safe. One of the first thing that I have read in the article linked down below, Venmo actually uses API which is application programming interface which allows the app to store its users information in certain secure places with appropriate protocols that allows the users data to stay private and safe. Another way it allows you to keep your privacy is that it gives you certain protocol options when choosing to transfer money to ensure that you are not a hacker. The app allows you the option to use Face ID and PIN numbers that only you would be able to know.
Although the article also states that Venmo is not really in charge of providing money back for you if a scammer were to take it, the way the application is set up basically can allow you to tell if you are being scammed. One of the biggest things they point out is that since it takes a few days to transfer money to your account, you can also tell based on the rest of your bank statement if something seems off. There are many applications out there like PayPal and CashApp but I have heard the best reviews about Venmo out of the three of them just from other friends and family recommendations. I personally think that Venmo is the best options for small transactions just in case something were to mysteriously go wrong within a transaction, you will not be losing that much money. I also think that it is important within the app to make sure your balance does not get too high and that you are making small transfers to your bank account. Overall, I will definitely be continuing using Venmo in the future.
https://www.bankrate.com/finance/credit-cards/is-venmo-safe/
Hello I can personally say I have been a big user of venmo since I got to college. However, I have never once worried about how secure my venmo account is. It pleases me to see how well Venmo accesses and stores users data and that it is one of the safest and most secure ways of transferring funds. I love how you mentioned all the security and privacy options Venmo allows users to choose from. I think this allows for many users to choose the privacy option they like best and makes users feel more confident that their account is secure. Also, I really like how venmo enables users to choose from either making payments private or public. Personally, I use private for all my transactions on venmo because I do not want people to know everytime I make a transaction and who these transactions are with. One issue I have with venmo is their overbalance policies. I believe Venmo should enable more steps before a user goes over his balance on his account. My friend went over his balance on Venmo one time and he saw he got charged twenty dollars for it plus the amount he went over. This happened because he thought he had more money in his account then he did. I would assume that happens in most cases, so in response venmo should create a new feature that lets users know they will go over their account if they do this certain purchase.
Furthermore, I came across a very interesting article that talks about how scammers are impersonating venmo to attempt to hack bank accounts. These scammers are sending venmo users a text message saying that their account will be charged if they do not login and decline the transaction. The message is the same color and font as the venmo app making it very easy for venmo users to fall for this trap. Also, in the message it allows you to put your phone number and password to log in, but it takes any phone number and password regardless if it’s correct. The article advises everyone who entered their information in the message to contact their bank or credit card lender immediately. It is very important that this message gets passed around so everyone can be aware of this and won’t give away their credentials to a scammer. I was almost scammed like this before earlier in the year when a random guy called me and said my account was hacked and then started asking for my social security card. I was so close to falling for it, but luckily my friend was there and knew right away it was a scam. However, this shows that scams can be very believable and easy to fall into sometimes, especially when you are doing what you do everyday. I was on my walk back from class which I do everyday when the scammer called me. This article shows that people have to be very safe and protective of their venmo account because with all the money venmo has to offer to hackers, you better know people are going to try.
https://now963.radio.com/articles/feature-article/police-want-all-be-aware-current-venmo-scam
I am a frequent Venmo user and luckily I have never had any negative incidents with the app. I’ve always thought the security features were good enough to protect me and my money. To answer your question, it seems as if Venmo is equally as safe as most other methods of sending money.
However, there are some drawbacks to using Venmo that also occur in other methods of transaction. If you receive a payment from a company or person and there is anything remotely wrong with the method of payment/it is fraudulent, it’s possible that Venmo can take the money back. You may not even realize that the payment wasn’t valid because Venmo can make it look as if the transaction went through when in reality, they can take the money back and hold you completely liable if you spend any of the money before it is taken back. What this means is that Venmo doesn’t have consumer protection, unlike some other transaction methods.
You can also get scammed using this same tactic. It takes days for money sent from Venmo to hit your bank account if you choose the free transfer option, so people can make you think they paid you and then reverse the payment before it hits your bank account, making you liable if you spend any of that money immediately.
Therefore, using Venmo is fairly safe if you’re just going to use it for small transactions between friends and family, but there other services that should be used for very large transfers of money.
https://www.thebalance.com/venmo-scams-315823
As someone who has been using Venmo for years, I agree with the statement that Venmo is safe to use security wise. However, there are always ways to be safer online and certain areas to be aware of when using this money app or any other. Venmo makes sure to protect the account information of its users by using common security features. Venmo does not offer protection between its buyers and sellers. A good practice to put to use is only putting in a credit card. This is a better idea than using a debit card as with using a credit card all charges can go back to normal after two billing cycles. On the other hand when you put in debit card information there is a potential of having a fraudulent charge empty your entire account. This would be a lot much worse to handle than fixing a credit card. It is clear to say that overall Venmo is a safe and secure money app, but it is never a bad idea to be cautious and aware that scams do happen and certain scams happening to certain accounts can be hard to come back from.
Source: https://www.thebalance.com/venmo-scams-315823
I personally am an avid user of Venmo. I have been using it for a couple years and trust it completely. I agree with you that the application is secure especially with the proper security measures. The app has many extra forms of security that the user has the option of implementing if they feel the need to. While I trust it though, it is fair for new users even current users to be wary of the security of it. Even with all the security factors it is still possible for some form of hacking to occur.
With this being said, recently the parent companies of Venmo and another online payment service named Cash App have discussed with the Treasury Department the idea of distributing the money from the new stimulus package to the public through their platforms. The two companies bring up the argument that the soul purpose of the stimulus is to get payments to the American people as quickly as possible. Online payment services allow almost immediate distribution of the money.
While it is not necessarily ideal for this to be the way to test the security of the applications. This may be one of the best ways in the to not only provide aid to the people of America but also to really test the security of these applications and prove how trustworthy they potentially are. Nothing is currently set in stone but I believe that if this becomes an option it will be an overall positive outcome and it can be the next step in online payments.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/27/tech/venmo-cash-app-stimulus/index.html
In the grand scheme of things, Venmo is safe, yes. But there have been several issues with people losing money from their Venmo account. The reason that they are safe is that Venmo uses some data encryption technology that ultimately protects the users against unauthorized transactions. According to Investopedia, “…by changing the user’s linked email address, hackers can reroute a user’s transaction notifications, leaving them in the dark until the bank finally notifies them of balance changes, long after thefts occur. Stories of Venmo users losing up to $3,000 have been reported”(Investopedia). There are many ways to protect yourself from this happening to you. Do not store large amounts of money in your Venmo account, and once you have received money into your Venmo account, transfer it to a bank account. All in all, yes Venmo is very safe as long as you treat it correctly.
Source: https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/032415/how-safe-venmo-and-why-it-free.asp
Yes, overall, Venmo is safe. They are able to link bank accounts to Venmo accounts to send or receive money through an application program interface. It is also true that the company uses encryption protocols aimed to ensure “bank grade” security and information is disclosed in secret locations. However, it is not completely foolproof. Someone could access one’s login information and easily send money to anyone they wished. As well, when sending or receiving money under public WiFI, one could be potentially exposed to hackers able to access this personal login information. In order to make Venmo safer, a unique password is helpful as well as enabling PIN protection and multifactor authentication. These simple steps can help protect users fully and provide them with the correct safety measures.
Source: https://www.thebalance.com/is-venmo-safe-4777408