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Payment Activity & Privacy

  • Updated

Privacy is a big concern with technology. We put you in control so that you can decide who can see your Venmo payments and purchases. Make sure your app is updated to the newest version to see our latest privacy controls.

 

What each privacy setting means:

  • Public: The transaction will be shared on the public feed and anyone on the internet may be able to see it.
  • Friends only: The transaction will only be shared with your Venmo friends and with the other participant’s Venmo friends.
  • Private: We will not share the transaction anywhere other than in the personal transactions feed under the "Me" tab. If it’s a payment to another user, the recipient will also see this activity in their app.

 

What information about a payment is shared with the sender or recipient?  

  • The payment amount, payment note, names of sender/recipient, and timestamp of the payment are available to each individual involved in the payment. 
  • ONLY the sender of the payment has access to the payment method used (for example: the bank account, debit/credit card number, etc.). The recipient will NEVER see this information. 

 

What payment information is visible on the public feed when I share payments with friends? 

  • When a payment is shared, the payment note, names of sender/recipient, and timestamp of the payment will be visible on the public feed. 
  • ONLY the sender and recipient have access to the payment amount. 
  • ONLY the sender of the payment has access to the payment method used. 

 

How does sharing payments work? 

  • You can set the privacy setting on a payment or purchase on an individual basis. If you don’t want to change the privacy setting every time you make a payment, you can change your default privacy setting. Your future payments will automatically default to your preference, but you can adjust this before completing the payment. 
  • When you transact with someone else on Venmo, including payouts from merchants or payments with business profiles, the more restrictive privacy setting between the two of you will be honored. If you have your payments set to Private but your friend has their payments set to Public, a payment between the two of you will be set to Private. 
  • Purchases made using your Venmo Mastercard Debit Card or Venmo Credit Card, and purchases from approved merchants when you pay with Venmo are Private by default, but you can change the privacy setting on any purchase to share them. 
  • All of your transactions, regardless of privacy setting, will still be visible in your personal transactions feed under the "Me" tab so that you have a transaction record. 

 

Changing the Privacy Setting for an Individual Payment or Purchase

You can set the privacy setting for each individual payment or purchase, right from the payment or purchase itself. Just select or tap on the privacy setting in any payment or purchase and select your preferred setting.

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Changing Your Default Privacy Setting

You can set up your Venmo account so that the privacy setting for all future payments is automatically set to your preference. You can always change the privacy setting for an individual payment by following the above steps, no matter what your default privacy setting is.

To update your privacy settings on the web  

  1. Sign in to your Venmo account
  2. Click Settings
  3. Select Privacy 
  4. Select Public, Friends, or Private

To update your privacy settings on the Venmo app

  1. Go to the Me tab
  2. Tap the Settings gear in the top right corner
  3. Tap Privacy 
  4. Under Default Privacy Setting select your preferred default privacy setting.

Keep in mind, when you pay or request money from someone else on Venmo, the more restrictive privacy setting between the two of you will always be honored.

 

Hiding Your Past Payments

You have the option to make your past payments private or friends only.

To edit past payment privacy on the web:

  1. Sign in to your Venmo account
  2. Click Settings
  3. Select Privacy 
  4. Under Past Payments select Change to Friends or Change to Private

Please note: This will go into effect for all past transactions.

To edit past payment privacy on the app:

  1. Go to the Me tab 
  2. Tap the Settings gear at the top right
  3. Tap Privacy in the Settings menu
  4. Tap Past Transactions
  5. Select your desired setting

This is permanent and we cannot undo this action. Please note that private payments and purchases will remain private even if you select “Limit to Friends."

 

Commenting on Transactions

You can keep the story going by commenting on your friends’ payment activities. In order to comment on a payment, you need to be friends on Venmo. Learn more about adding and removing friends.

 

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