Venmo is a mobile payment service owned by PayPal and it’s a type of peer-to-peer payment platform.  Venmo is a mobile app that enables sending money easily among friends. No credit card, no wallet, no fees and no nagging for unpaid drinks required. Just link the app to a debit card and spend away.

Venmo account holders can transfer funds to others via a mobile phone app; both the sender and receiver have to live in the U.S. For example:

• Splitting a lunch bill
• Paying your friend half of a cab fare
• Sending your roommate your half of the rent
• You can find out more information here.

Venmo can also be used to make purchases with authorized merchants. For example:

• Using the Venmo Mastercard Debit Card anywhere in the U.S. where Mastercard is accepted
• Using Venmo as a payment method in authorized partner apps or mobile websites
• Using in-store QR codes to complete purchases with Venmo
• Venmo should not otherwise be used to complete purchases, unless explicitly authorized by Venmo.

As far as payment activities go, Venmo is considered safe since it uses bank-level encryption to protect your financial information. Plus you can choose to add layers of authentication including a required PIN number.