Payment Activity & Privacy

We all know that 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 Venmo public feed and anyone on the internet will 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 your own personal feed and, if it’s a payment to another user, the feed of the other person in the payment.

Good to know:

• You can set the privacy setting on an individual payment or purchase basis. Don’t want to change the privacy setting every time you make a payment? You can change your default privacy setting so that the setting for all future payments you initiate is automatically set to your preference. Check out instructions for all of this below.
• When you transact with someone else on Venmo, including payments from merchants, the more restrictive privacy setting between the two of you will be honored.
• Purchases made using your Venmo 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 Venmo feed so that you have a transaction record.
• Regardless of privacy settings, the dollar amount will only be shared with the other participant in the transaction. The funding source will only be visible to you.

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.

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 (remember, you can 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 first log in to venmo.com. Then navigate to Settings → Privacy and select your preferred default privacy setting. Finally, make sure to click Save Settings.

To update your sharing settings in the app please make sure your app is updated to the latest release. Then, tap the "☰" icon at the top and tap "Settings." From there select "Privacy." Under “Default Privacy Setting” select your preferred default privacy setting.

Keep in mind, when you pay or request funds 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.

On the app, navigate to Settings -> Privacy and under Past Transactions select your preference.

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."

On the web, first, log into venmo.com. Then navigate to Settings → Privacy. From there, click on your preference. Finally, make sure to click Save Settings.

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. You can find more about adding and removing friends here.