Venmo Policies Should be More Equitable

Is Venmo creating equity violations for its users with different bank providers? ​​Venmo’s policy describes transferring money by saying, “Whenever you receive a payment on Venmo, that money is put into your Venmo account. You’ll need to initiate a bank transfer to send the funds to your bank account.”

According to Venmo’s page, “Instant transfer is a feature that allows Venmo users to transfer the money in their Venmo account to certain bank accounts or eligible Visa and Mastercard debit cards, typically within 30 minutes. A 1.75% fee (with a minimum fee of $0.25 and a maximum fee of $25) is deducted from the amount for each transfer.”

Venmo’s Standard Bank transfers typically arrive within 1 to 3 business days with no deductions. Both of these are great options for moving money between accounts. However, troubles arise when not every account holder has the option to pick between the two. 

Rockland Trust is one of these banks. Venmo users with Rockland Trust as their banking provider are only allowed to use the instant transfer. SHS senior Maddie Friend, who is a Rockland Trust customer, expressed her frustration with Venmo: “Every time people pay me I am forced to do the rapid transfer, which takes a fee off. The deductions add up, and I have lost a good amount of money over it.”

Another Rockland Trust customer, senior Freja Haley, said, “It is good that you get your money into your bank account right away, but it is frustrating to not have a choice.” She explained that she constantly watches how much money she has stored in her Venmo to see how much she will lose when she transfers it. 

Although Venmo is an easy and effective platform for money transactions, its policies should be the same for every user, no matter the banking provider. Many people are unaware of these transfer variations and are unnecessarily losing money.