Can i use venmo credit card to pay someone

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Although Venmo’s peer-to-peer payment service is convenient and easy, this co-branded credit card is a Ven-No. You will likely reap greater ongoing rewards with a card that earns a flat 2% cash back on everything you buy than the tiered rewards structure on the Venmo Credit Card*.

Venmo Credit Card

Regular APR

17.49% - 26.49% variable

Credit Score

Good/Excellent

Pros

• No annual fee
• No foreign transaction fees
• Earn cash back in your top spend categories
• Cash-back rewards may be automatically redeemed for cryptocurrency; terms apply

Cons

• No low introductory APR period
• A Venmo account in good standing that’s been open for at least thirty calendar days prior to application is required to apply
• Rewards must be transferred to your Venmo account to cash out

Highlights

• 17.49% – 26.49% variable APR on purchases
• No annual fee
• Automatically earn up to 3% cash back on your top spend category
• Earn 2% on the next category
• Earn 1% on the rest of your purchases
• The Venmo Credit Card lets you earn custom cashback rewards and syncs seamlessly with the Venmo app
• Keep tabs on card activity in the app, right with all your Venmo spending – every purchase, payment, split, and reward

Introduction

If you love using Venmo to make quick payments to or split bills with friends and family, you may be tempted to apply for the Venmo Credit Card*. Issued in partnership with Synchrony Bank, the no-annual-fee card runs on the Visa network and earns rewards on every purchase you make.

Similar to the app, the card lets you make a payment —say for a meal out with friends—and then lets you split the bill immediately. Your Venmo-enabled dining companions can simply scan the QR code conveniently located on the front of every Venmo credit card and pay you then and there for their share while you finish dessert. You can then use their payments towards your credit card bill or leave it in your Venmo account.

The potential advantage to the card is that, unlike just plain old Venmo, you can skip the step of having those Venmo payments sent to your bank account first for you to then pay your credit card bill.

What the Venmo card gets right is that cardholders don’t have to track their spending and opt-in or manage which categories earn the most, that’s automatically calculated for you each month. The card does offer bonus cash-back of 3% cash back in the top spend category, 2% on the next category and 1% on all other purchases. The eligible categories include dining & nightlife, travel, bills & utilities, health & beauty, grocery, gas, transportation, and entertainment.

Big spenders may find that a card with fewer restrictions can net them greater rewards overall, including a card offered by Venmo’s parent company, the PayPal Cashback Mastercard®* which earns a net 3% cash back on PayPal purchases and 2% on all other purchases.

Compare Venmo Credit Card With Other Cards

At a Glance

• Annual fee: $0
• No 0% introductory APR offer
• Earn 3% cash back in the top spend category, 2% on the next category and 1% on all other purchases
• Use your rewards to make Venmo payments, as a statement credit, to make purchases with the card or transfer to your bank account
• Track spending, make payments to other Venmo users and manage your account in the Venmo app
• No foreign transaction fees

Venmo Credit Card Rewards

Earning Rewards

The Venmo card earns rewards at the following rates:

• Earn 3% cash back in the top spend category, 2% on the next category and 1% on all other purchases

The eight categories eligible for bonus rewards are as follows:

• Dining and nightlife—Including dine-in, carry-out, delivery, bars and beverage shops
• Travel—Including airlines, hotels, motels and resorts and short-term rentals like Airbnb. Notably, cruises are not eligible
• Bills and utilities—Including internet service, streaming services, electric bills and newspaper and magazine subscriptions
• Health and beauty—Including drugstores and pharmacies, as well as health clubs, tennis, golf and swimming memberships
• Grocery—Including both supermarkets and wholesale clubs, as well as convenience stores, bakeries and delis
• Gas—Including any service station that sells fuel. Notably does not exclude gas purchases from discounters and warehouse clubs
• Transportation—Including rental cars, taxicabs, rideshare merchants, limousines, bus lines, passenger railways, tolls, parking meters and parking garage fees
• Entertainment—Including movie theaters, theatrical and concert promoters, video rental and game stores, books and newsstands, amusement parks, music stores, and toy and hobby stores

Redeeming Rewards

Cash-back earnings will be deposited automatically into the cardholder’s Venmo account within three business days of the end of the billing cycle. Once in your Venmo account, your earnings can be used to make payments via Venmo, make purchases, send money to other Venmo users or transfer to your bank account or debit card linked to your Venmo account like any other Venmo balance.

You can also redeem your cash-back rewards for cryptocurrency. You’ll have to opt-in to crypto redemption and set up a cryptocurrency hub to use your rewards to buy Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin or Bitcoin Cash. When cash back is transferred to your Venmo account at the end of every month, Venmo will use it to automatically purchase your preferred crypto without any crypto transaction fee. Venmo will charge a fee when you buy or sell your crypto at any other time.

Rewards earned on the Venmo credit card never expire, as long as the account is open and in good standing.

Rewards Potential

Forbes Advisor uses data from various government agencies in order to determine both baseline income and spending averages across various categories. The 70th percentile of wage-earning households brings in $107,908 annually and has $64,144 in standard expenses. Assuming 50% of such expenses are charged to this card, the total annual card spending would be $32,072.

We assume that the biggest expense in our sample household is groceries, with a total of $6,322 spent annually between supermarkets and warehouse clubs, both of which fall under the Venmo card’s grocery category and the second-largest category of spending is dining with an estimated $4,511 annually. The Venmo Card would earn $189.66 in rewards in the 3% earning category of groceries and $90.22 in the 2% category of restaurants.

The remaining spending on the card, $21,239 would net $212.39 back for a total of $492.27 in annual rewards.

Other Venmo Credit Card Benefits

As a Visa card, the Venmo credit card comes with standard Visa protections which include:

• ID Navigator Identity Theft Protections: Enroll in this complimentary service from Norton LifeLock and get credit monitoring and assistance if your identity is compromised.
• Emergency Cash: In case of emergency, Visa can arrange for a wire cash transfer to be available at a location near you, usually within hours of approval by Synchrony
• Emergency Card Replacement: Visa can work with your bank to expedite the replacement of your card and ship it within 24 to 72 hours

Those who are approved for the Visa Signature version of the card will also get benefits including:

• Visa Signature Luxury Hotel Benefits: Benefits include best rate guarantee, the potential for a room upgrade upon arrival, a $25 food/beverage credit and continental breakfast daily
• Travel and Emergency Assistance Services: Get connected with appropriate local emergency resources available, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year
• Silvercar Rental discounts: Get a discount on this all-Audi rental car service of up to 15%
• Golf Benefits: Enjoy 10% off at over 95 golf courses worldwide through Troon Golf Benefits
• Visa Signature Concierge: Access to the Visa Signature Concierge who can help with reservations, tickets, bookings and gift purchases.

Fine Print

Interest Rates

• APR: 17.49% - 26.49% variable

Fees

• Annual Fee: $0
• Foreign Transaction Fee: None
• Balance Transfer Fees: N/A
• Cash Advance Fee: Either $10.00 or 5% of the amount of each cash advance, whichever is greater

How the Venmo Credit Card Stacks Up

Venmo Credit Card* vs. PayPal Cashback Mastercard®*

The PayPal Cashback Mastercard®* is also a no-annual-fee credit card integrated with a payment app. But the PayPal card earns an unlimited flat 3% cash back on PayPal purchases and 2% on all other purchases. For our sample household, using this card would net a total of $641.44 compared to the estimated $492 they’d earn using the Venmo card.

There are some other minor differences, like the Venmo card comes with Visa benefits, while the PayPal Cashback card has Mastercard benefits but when you’re trying to choose a cash-back credit card, the most important factor is the amount of cash back you’re likely to earn. For most, the PayPal card will earn more overall.

Venmo Credit Card* vs. Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card

The no-annual-fee Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card earns an unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases, erasing the need to track categories to maximize spending. The card also offers a few features the Venmo card does not, including a 0% intro APR for 15 months from account opening on purchases and qualifying balance transfers, then a 17.99%, 22.99%, or 27.99% variable APR applies. Balance transfers made within 120 days qualify for the intro rate and fee of 3% then a fee of up to 5%, with a minimum of $5 applies and a welcome bonus: $200 cash rewards bonus after spending $1,000 in purchases in the first 3 months.

For those who don’t mind putting in the work, the Venmo card and the Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card or another 2% card like it could be paired well together. This would reduce the value of the Venmo card’s reward-earning to its 3% cash-back top-spend-category earning, but the Venmo-related convenience benefits may still make the card a worthwhile pick for some.

Venmo Credit Card* vs. Chase Freedom Flex℠

Someone seeking the most rewards-earning power possible in a card with no annual fee should consider the Chase Freedom Flex℠. The card earns 5% cash back on up to $1,500 in categories that rotate quarterly (requires activation), 5% on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards®, 3% on dining and drugstores and 1% on all other purchases. That could yield more value to you than the Venmo card.

This card can become even more powerful when paired with a premium Chase Ultimate Rewards®-earning card like the Chase Sapphire Reserve®, Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card.

Is the Venmo Credit Card for You?

Although heavy users of the Venmo payment app might find it appealing to earn credit card rewards within that ecosystem, it’s likely that other cash-back cards will net you more value overall without the extra step of going through a peer-to-peer payment app. A flat-rate earnings card or one with a more generous tiered rewards structure will probably score you greater overall returns.

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