Forgetting, or even losing, a wallet with credit cards and cash can be stressful and annoying, especially when it’s time to pay for your coffee at Starbucks. It happens to the best of us, really.
Luckily, apps such as Cash App and Venmo are here to make monetary transfers fast and easy with just a few taps on your phone screen. The approach is very convenient in our modern lives, especially because we already our smartphones are an essential part of our lives and serve multiple functions – everything from setting up reminders to video calls and now payments.
Although both apps serve the same purpose, there are details that make the two different, meaning that people with different needs might find one of them more beneficial than the other.
In this article, we’ll discuss the main differences between Cash App and Venmo, as well as how much they can affect you, be it directly or indirectly. In addition, after reading this article, you will be able to make an informed decision on which one of the two apps is the best for you.
So, find yourself a comfortable spot, grab some refreshments and let’s dive in!
Introduction to Cash App
Cash App is a professional tool that is focused on a bigger number of financial functions rather than social ones. With 30 million active monthly users, Cash App supports sending and receiving money, as well as Bitcoin and stock trading. Also, with Cash App, you can pay direct deposits, payrolls, retail payments, and vendor payments.
Moreover, Cash App can be used by businesses, various organizations, and individuals, offering French and English as navigational languages – just take your pick!
However, that’s definitely not all of what Cash App has to offer.
In 2020 it was announced that Cash App has acquired a free tax-filling service, which will be integrated into the app itself, meaning that Cash App is taking it to the next level by providing even more convenience and features that are all in the same place.
If you’re new to this or simply haven’t had a chance to try out Cash App for yourself, here’s how it works:
Whether you’re using Cash App on behalf of a business, an organization, or simply for your own needs, you will be able to create a personal username and both transfer and request money from another Cash App account using your Cash App ($cahstag), phone number or email. In addition, if you’d prefer to keep more privacy, Cash App offers the option to create a unique username (aka $cashtag). Your unique $cashtag username will be used to transfer and request money from different users by entering the username.
Furthermore, a receiver can then withdraw the money using the debit card called Cash Card, from ATMs or simply move the money into a bank account.
Introduction to Venmo
Venmo is a subsidiary of PayPal and, just like Cash App, Venmo allows its users to send and receive money by finding the recipients via Venmo username, phone number, or email.
To be able to use Venmo, you will need a valid email address, an American mobile phone number, and a bank account. In addition, the registration process can be completed through a mobile app and a website by providing basic personal and bank account information.
Just like with Cash App, Venmo’s users can link their bank accounts, debit, and credit cards to their Venmo account. The transactions are 100% free if you use a bank account or debit card, but payments via credit card have a 3% fee for each transaction.
However, there is another alternative if you don’t want to mix your Venmo account with the others, as Venmo offers a Venmo MasterCard as a separate payment method.
Now that we covered the similarities between Cash App and Venmo, let’s find out what makes Venmo different.
As you might remember from the Cash App part in this article, Cash App has one focus – easy money transfers without distraction.
While Venmo fulfills the easy money transfers just as well as Cash App does, it also aims to make the experience casual and fun by allowing you to interact with your friends with colorful emojis and granting you an opportunity to catch up with them and follow what they’re up to.
In addition, the Venmo Rewards Program makes shopping fun by rewarding its users for buying from different brands and companies chosen by Venmo.
Assessment Criteria
Now that you have a clear vision of what the main similarities and differences between Cash App and Venmo are, before going more into detail about the differences and who they fit the best, let’s define the factors that will influence a decision.
- Customer Support. Although both apps are very easy to use, it’s important to know that you’re not on your own, as finance is a serious part of one’s life. We will look into what Cash App and Venmo prepared to keep the customers happy and safe.
- Fees and limits. This is something that will affect you directly, as it determines what’s the maximum amount of money you can transfer and if there are any fees for certain actions. This criterion might be the most important one, as it could save you time and money.
- Ways to pay. Some people might think that the more ways of paying there are, the better, whereas others are firm believers that too many can be too distracting and unnecessary. Whichever group you belong to, you will find out which one – Cash App or Venmo – is the one for you.
- Safety. We’ll look into what solutions both apps offer and what actions they took to ensure that they deserve your trust when it comes to safe money transfer and keeping.
- Supported devices. Different users prefer different mobile phone brands to use, and that’s absolutely fine, as no one should be forced to switch to be able to use Cash App or Venmo. We will inform you about what they offer and who could benefit from it.
Cash App vs Venmo: Customer Support
When it comes to customer support, there are 2 ways to approach assistance from Cash App: via phone call and email.
Although talking about your specific needs and challenges with a representative won’t be an option, calling the number 855-351-2274 for automated instructions over the phone is a possibility. In addition, you can get written assistance through the app itself, as well as cash.app/help.
Venmo, on the other hand, has more options to choose from – email, live chat, online contact form, and phone call.
If you prefer contacting the company by email, they provide support@venmo.com as the go-to email address to use. However, the fastest options would be calling or using live chat. The phone lines are available on weekdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. EST and the phone number is 855-812-4430.
As for the live chat, you can find it on the mobile app and it’s available on weekdays 7:00am-1:00am EST; Sat-Sun, 9:00am-11:00pm EST.
All things considered, if you prefer more personalized, faster, and more flexible customer service, Venmo might be a better option for you. However, keep reading and find if the other criteria are appealing to you to make a completely informed decision.
Cash App vs Venmo: Fees and Limits
Before reading this part, you should have an idea of how much you want to be able to spend using Cash App or Venmo because it’s time to discuss limits and fees.
For instance, if you decided to go with Cash App until your account is verified, the maximum amount of money that you can transfer is $250 and $2,500 when your account is verified.
Venmo, however, gives you the freedom to spend much more, especially on the verified account. More specifically, the maximum amount for an unverified account is $299.99 and $4,999.99 for a verified one.
Quite a difference, right?
The great thing about both Cash App and Venmo is that it costs nothing to send money. However, both do have instant withdrawal fees, 1.5% for Cash App users and 1% for Venmo users.
Finally, if you tend to transfer money internationally, you’ll be happy to find out that not only does Cash App have English and French language options, but, unlike Venmo, which supports transactions in the US only, Cash App supports international transfers too.
Cash App vs Venmo: Ways to Pay
Since the main goal of Cash App and Venmo is to make money transferring and receiving easy and fast, it’s definitely a huge advantage to support many different ways of paying.
After all, it only complements the general idea of the apps.
In this case, Cash App makes bank account, credit card, debit card, Google Pay, and Apple Pay acceptable payment methods, whereas Venmo supports all the same measures, except for Google Pay and Apple Pay.
Hence, if Google Pay and Apple Pay are important in your lifestyle, we suggest Cash App.
Cash App vs Venmo: Safety
We suspect that a thorough explanation is unnecessary when it comes to pointing out why safety and security are crucial, especially when we entrust our finances to third parties.
While there’s only so much the apps can do to protect us from scams and fraud, both Cash App and Venmo do what they can from their side.
More specifically, both apps are equipped with data encryption and gently lead you to set up a personal code or touch ID.
Moreover, both companies go the extra mile and put up guides on how you can protect your privacy and security by reporting phishing attempts, advising you to not send money to people you don’t know, and so forth.
In addition, both companies empathize that their support workers will never ask for sensitive information, such as sign-in code, PIN, bank information, and the apps will not request payments from you.
All in all, both Cash App and Venmo are safe tools to use, as long as you’re responsible and treat your money with caution.
Cash App vs Venmo: Supported Devices
We’ve already established that Cash App and Venmo are apps for mobile phones, as we carry our phones everywhere with us, so it only makes sense to concentrate in this direction.
You probably won’t be surprised to find out that both Cash App and Venmo support android and iOS, with Cash App adding a browser as a bonus, since it offers more financial options, such as Bitcoin and stock trading.
If all you need is Android or iOS functionality, you’re good to go with either of them. However, if for any reason, being able to use an app like that on a browser is important to you, you might find Cash App to be a better match to you.
Final Conclusion
By now it should be clear what one of the apps is better at than another, and vice versa. This article, however, will not give you a final answer on which one is the best in general, as it is subjective and it completely depends on what your needs and goals are. Therefore, the decision is yours to make.
We do, however, have some insights to share with you to summarize the whole comparison.
One of the main differences between Cash App and Venmo is that Venmo would rather give you more options to play around with finances rather than a social experience. It will certainly be an easy way to buy and sell Bitcoin and stocks, as well as keeping the focus on the finances and finances only!
Venmo, on the other hand, wants you to have fun and enjoy the easy transfers while socializing with your friends and family.
Furthermore, if you’d like to be able to spend more and be able to pay to have more ways to get customer support, Venmo is the choice for you.
However, Cash App will turn out to be a better choice you’d like to use Google Pay and Apple Pay, spend less using Cash App, and transfer money internationally.
All things considered, both apps are truly exceptional in their functionality, user-friendly elements, and easy-to-use concept.
We hope that you found this article useful!