topic Question about Venmo in Community Chat

Question about Venmo

781Florist — Sat, 26 Aug 2023 19:04:00 GMT

Hey folks...

I have the Venmo app on my phone (I had to pay something with it 3 years ago!) and 5 days ago I sent my sister a payment using my Discover card.

She says she is unable to deposit my payment, and I checked into my Venmo and it says it made the payment.

I checked into my Discover Card login and it has my payment recorded.

She says that she had no trouble depositing payments from 2 other siblings so I am asking you what you think.

Is the problem with her bank? My 2 sources (Discover and Venmo) say the payment is made yet she doesn't seem to be able to get it!

I'm getting charged for a payment that is out in cyberspace someplace. If she obviously was sent the payment (she has tried to deposit it ) and it shows up on my account statements, then it seems to me the problem is with her bank...no?

Re: Question about Venmo

Mz iMac — Sat, 26 Aug 2023 19:14:50 GMT

@781Florist "She says she is unable to deposit my payment"

"(she has tried to deposit it )"

So your sister "sees" the $$$ you sent or a record of it but just can't deposit it?

Sounds to me the issue is on your sister's end.

Is there a way you can track Vemo $$$ to confirm "where" or to "whom" the $$$ went to?

Re: Question about Venmo

moonandthestars — Sat, 26 Aug 2023 19:23:30 GMT

@781Florist I'm very new to Venmo so I'm not even close to being an expert on the subject. I do have a question for you: when you say that you sent your sister a payment via Venmo - where was it to go? Her Venmo account? Or direct to her bank account? Or direct to her credit card? Obviously I'm not familiar with this whole procedure, but seems to me if you have confirmation that you sent it and it was "received" can you not give her your confirmation / transaction number for her to give to her bank or wherever it was supposed to be received?

I have my own issues with Venmo - a couple of people I deal with asked that I pay with Venmo (vs. PayPal, etc.) so I relented. Seemed easy enough, but I just found out in reviewing my credit card statements that my bank changes me $10 extra per transaction! Oh my! They call it a transaction fee. They treat it as a cash advance or something like that and charge me higher interest on it too. I was able to get one $10 refunded, but that leaves like 8 more. I'm pretty upset and will call them again today to see how we can straighten this out. Any advice? I won't continue to use Venmo, obviously.

Hope you and your sister straighten out your situation quickly and easily.

Re: Question about Venmo

Tori3569 — Sat, 26 Aug 2023 20:24:40 GMT

@moonandthestars wrote:
@781Florist I'm very new to Venmo so I'm not even close to being an expert on the subject. I do have a question for you: when you say that you sent your sister a payment via Venmo - where was it to go? Her Venmo account? Or direct to her bank account? Or direct to her credit card? Obviously I'm not familiar with this whole procedure, but seems to me if you have confirmation that you sent it and it was "received" can you not give her your confirmation / transaction number for her to give to her bank or wherever it was supposed to be received?

I have my own issues with Venmo - a couple of people I deal with asked that I pay with Venmo (vs. PayPal, etc.) so I relented. Seemed easy enough, but I just found out in reviewing my credit card statements that my bank changes me $10 extra per transaction! Oh my! They call it a transaction fee. They treat it as a cash advance or something like that and charge me higher interest on it too. I was able to get one $10 refunded, but that leaves like 8 more. I'm pretty upset and will call them again today to see how we can straighten this out. Any advice? I won't continue to use Venmo, obviously.

Hope you and your sister straighten out your situation quickly and easily.

I've been using Venmo for years and would not use a credit card there. It states many times on the site that any payments by credit card are subject to a 3% charge by Venmo and can be treated as cash advances by the card issuer.

I have it attached to my checking account, just like Paypal and have never had an issue. I realize however, that using it that way might not be possible for some.

Re: Question about Venmo

ValuSkr — Sat, 26 Aug 2023 20:59:14 GMT

Why not just hand her a check? ... the old-fashioned way! I understand it's less convenient for her. If there are fees, make sure she reimburses you; convenience comes at a price!

Re: Question about Venmo

moonandthestars — Sat, 26 Aug 2023 21:04:03 GMT

@Tori3569 Hmm, let me see about linking to a bank account. I didn't see that option when I signed up. However, just to be clear on my transaction fee woes, it is my credit card which is charging that to my account - shouldn't they have notified me about that other than just charging me?

I realize that Venmo has some small fees associated with it - I kind of thought the sellers (i.e. receiver of the money) paid that, but I was prepared to pay something for the service. I ended up paying that (I think) plus $10 per transaction charged by my credit card company.

I have no idea why people prefer Venmo to paypal!! Maybe the seller fees are less?

Re: Question about Venmo

Kachina624 — Sat, 26 Aug 2023 23:10:07 GMT

I use my bank's bill pay function for personal and business transactions. Never a fee or problem as it comes directly out of my checking account.

Re: Question about Venmo

KKlim — Sun, 27 Aug 2023 02:38:42 GMT

@ moonandthestars..Please don’t use Venmo anymore. It sounds like a mess and your losing hard earned money paying for fees.
As @ValuSkr said…mail her a check. That’s exactly how I would have done it. My sister that lives in Atlanta ordered something that required a payment from me to reimburse her. She asked me to use Zelle + I said no + I sent her a check. Too bad. Lol.

Re: Question about Venmo

781Florist — Sun, 27 Aug 2023 04:51:19 GMT

To you folks who said to give her a check, and to Kachina who suggested using the bank's bill pay....I have only one thing to say.

Boy am I stupid! I realized after reading your comments that giving anyone a check is really no inconvenience because they can simply pull out their phone and deposit it right there. (Duh!)

As for the bank's bill pay...I have that feature on my phone but I simply didn't think of it because I really do not utilize it. I pay most bills online at my desktop and don't use my phone for much other than texts or phone calls.

I have to wait until Monday to find out if this is a bank or a Venmo issue but once I get it sorted out I now know

that using my head as well as the checking account is

the way to go.

BTW....according to my Venmo and Discover accounts the total amount charged to me was $1.50 over the payment amount.

Thanks for all your input. I will let you know how this shakes out!

Re: Question about Venmo

KKlim — Sun, 27 Aug 2023 14:40:24 GMT

@781Florist..good luck on Monday and you are NOT stupid! Lol

Re: Question about Venmo

Mindy D — Sun, 27 Aug 2023 14:44:45 GMT

@Kachina624 wrote:
I use my bank's bill pay function for personal and business transactions. Never a fee or problem as it comes directly out of my checking account.

@Kachina624 Make sure you check any payments that the bank can't deposit electronically. I use a major bank and most payments go in electronically but a few companies don't accept electronic funds transfers so they are paid by bank issued checks that are mailed by the bank. The bank does use security paper and security ink and there are additional safeguards on their checks.

One bill that isnt accepted electronically is my AT&T landline. All my other AT&T bills do go in electronically.

A few months ago I paid my landline bill through the bank's payment system and I kept waiting for my payment to show up as being processed by the recipient. ATT never processed their check. I called the bank and they cancelled their check and I paid the ATT landline bill at the ATT website using my credit card.

I'm still wondering where that check is.

Re: Question about Venmo

Mindy D — Sun, 27 Aug 2023 14:48:09 GMT

@moonandthestars wrote:
@781Florist I'm very new to Venmo so I'm not even close to being an expert on the subject. I do have a question for you: when you say that you sent your sister a payment via Venmo - where was it to go? Her Venmo account? Or direct to her bank account? Or direct to her credit card? Obviously I'm not familiar with this whole procedure, but seems to me if you have confirmation that you sent it and it was "received" can you not give her your confirmation / transaction number for her to give to her bank or wherever it was supposed to be received?

I have my own issues with Venmo - a couple of people I deal with asked that I pay with Venmo (vs. PayPal, etc.) so I relented. Seemed easy enough, but I just found out in reviewing my credit card statements that my bank changes me $10 extra per transaction! Oh my! They call it a transaction fee. They treat it as a cash advance or something like that and charge me higher interest on it too. I was able to get one $10 refunded, but that leaves like 8 more. I'm pretty upset and will call them again today to see how we can straighten this out. Any advice? I won't continue to use Venmo, obviously.

Hope you and your sister straighten out your situation quickly and easily.

@moonandthestars @Maybe it went to the wrong account number?

Re: Question about Venmo

Mindy D — Sun, 27 Aug 2023 14:50:00 GMT

@781Florist Could you have given the wrong account number?

Re: Question about Venmo

peachesncream — Sun, 27 Aug 2023 16:29:11 GMT

I've been using Zelle lately, at the recommendation of my kids and grandkids. I feel like it's safer/faster/easier than using Paypal or Venmo to send money to individuals.

It's owned and run by the major banks (Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Capital One, Chase). No fees to send or receive money. Money arrives in minutes. Many banks and credit unions now offer Zelle. But if your bank doesn't, you can still send money using the Zelle app on an I Phone (I'm going by what it says on their website; my bank is Bank of America so it was super easy to set up a Zelle account.)

I still use Paypal occasionally shopping online, and I've never had any problems. Don't get me started on Venmo - although they're now owned by Paypal, they don't operate the same way and I had nothing but trouble with them.

Re: Question about Venmo

sunshine45 — Sun, 27 Aug 2023 16:40:19 GMT

i use zelle, paypal, and venmo.

have not had any issues with any of them, but i use them all for different reasons. i would NEVER buy anything with zelle or venmo.....for that, paypal is preferred because i can always open a case if something happens or does not get delivered. if anyone asks to be paid via zelle or venmo i just say i am no longer interested.....unless i know them VERY well.

in my immediate family, most of us use venmo to reimburse each other.

i also have and use a VENMO rewards visa card. they deposit cash rewards into my venmo balance every month.

Re: Question about Venmo

teganslaw — Sun, 27 Aug 2023 16:51:52 GMT

I don't trust Venmo, not sure about Zelle. I use Paypal frequently and never had a problem.

Re: Question about Venmo

781Florist — Sun, 27 Aug 2023 17:07:57 GMT

It is Sunday afternoon and my sister just texted me.

She said never mind, the money was in her Venmo account. I would be annoyed with her if I wasn't so familiar with senior moments myself.

I still realize that the check would have been the smartest and easiest way to have gone about this!

....and I also use PayPal for online purchases whenever possible. Love them. Never a single problem.

Thanks guys!

Re: Question about Venmo

KKlim — Sun, 27 Aug 2023 17:55:48 GMT

@781Florist. Glad you were able to straighten it out.

Re: Question about Venmo

tansy — Sun, 27 Aug 2023 18:14:42 GMT

@781Florist wrote:
It is Sunday afternoon and my sister just texted me.
She said never mind, the money was in her Venmo account. I would be annoyed with her if I wasn't so familiar with senior moments myself.

I still realize that the check would have been the smartest and easiest way to have gone about this!

....and I also use PayPal for online purchases whenever possible. Love them. Never a single problem.

Thanks guys!

There have been threads here recently about the dangers of sending checks thru the mail. I won't do it anymore.

Re: Question about Venmo

CelticCrafter — Sun, 27 Aug 2023 19:08:22 GMT

I only ever used it once and there was just something about it that I didn't trust or like. After the payment went through I canceled or deleted my account with them.

I don't like having my checking account number out there floating around.