Venmo processes your transactions quickly, like other peer-to-peer payment apps. What makes it unique is how it encourages interaction between different users. As incredible as it may sound, some people are okay with socializing on a platform where others can view transactions and payments. Before you panic, I will discuss how you see who views your Venmo profile and how to take control of privacy settings in the app!
Can You Keep a Check on Who Views Your Venmo Profile
You can not see who views your Venmo profile and how often a user has visited your profile. Nonetheless, you can control the information visible to others by choosing one of the three privacy settings: Public, Friends Only, and Private.
One way to determine if someone viewed your profile is to check whether they liked or commented on a transaction. However, they can check out your Venmo profile without interacting as well.
The same goes the other way around, too! Venmo users whose profiles you visit can not see when and how often you see them. Where most other features on Venmo are Instagram and FaceBook, it makes sense why it would also leave out these settings.
What Can Others View on Your Venmo Account?
Venmo profiles are set to Public by default. This means that other users can see details of your Venmo account when they look you up using the username.
The visible details include name, friend list, transaction history, and profile picture.
When I say that the transaction history is private, the recent payments will be visible, but not the entire transaction history. Regardless of your privacy settings, details of the transactions are only accessible to you and the recipient. I will discuss more information below, so stay right here!
1. Transactions
Venmo transactions are visible to other users who visit your profile as long as your settings are fixed at Public. However, you can learn to see Venmo transactions and take control of your privacy by changing the settings to Friends or Private.
This will restrict who gets to see your purchases and transactions. The three privacy options, Public, Friends Only, and Private, are available in the latest version of the Venmo app. You should update the app if you are using an older version. I will briefly discuss how these settings work with you.
- Public: All the transaction details will be shared on the public fee. These will be visible to anyone who sees your Venmo profile.
- Friends Only: Venmo allows you to add other users as friends. If you change the privacy settings to Friends Only, the transactions will be visible only on your selected list. Remember that, in this case, the transactions can be seen by your friends and the recipients’ friends.
- Private: This means the transactions will only be shared on the Your Stories tab for personal view. No other user can see them except you (as a sender) and the recipient of that particular transfer.
You can make a Venmo payment private after the payment is complete by opening the transfer on your timeline. Find the transaction details and locate the privacy settings on the right side of the date and time option. From here, you can change the settings to make the transaction details private to you only.
2. Payment Information
The payment information is always visible to the sender and the recipient of that transaction. Precisely speaking, the sender can see payment method, bank account details, debit card number, credit card number, etc., In contrast, the transfer recipient will have access to the payment amount, name of send, any payment note, and payment timestamp.
What parties other than these two can see on your Venmo profile depends on the privacy settings. If you have chosen Public or Friends Only, the visitors can view information like the sender’s name, recipient’s name, payment timestamp, and payment note.
Other sensitive details like the payment amount and payment method can only be sent by the recipient and the sender, regardless of the privacy settings.
3. History
If you keep the privacy settings on default in your Venmo account, all visitors can see your Venmo transactions and specific payment information.
This is because Venmo was initially designed as a social app to encourage interaction between different users. However, you can still stick to such privacy settings. You can change who sees your Venmo account history by shifting settings to private or friends only. I will let you know how this is done in the sections below!
How To Stop Others From Viewing Your Venmo Transactions?
You can make your Venmo transactions private by playing with account settings. Moreover, it is possible to make a single transaction private on Venmo or change the settings to make the private option default for all upcoming payments and transfers. You make individual payments or purchases private by following the steps:
- Select the payment.
- Choose privacy settings.
- Check who can view the particular payment.
- Choose one option from the list of “public, friends, and private.”
- Finalize the choice and tap Confirm.
If you want to change the settings for all future transactions to private, you will have to alter the Default Privacy Setting in the app by following the steps below:
- Make sure your internet is working fine.
- Open the website browser.
- Search from Venmo and open your account in the browser.
- The URL to take you directly to the Venmo site is https://Venmo.com/.
- Then click on the three-line icon.
- Search for the Settings option and click to open.
- Tap on Privacy.
- Then select the Privacy Setting of your choice.
- Confirm the changes.
- Tap on Save to proceed.
Although you can not see who views your Venmo profile, you can exercise complete control over what information is visible on your account.
Moreover, you can not see someone’s private Venmo transactions. Venmo safeguards its user’s privacy.
How Do Social Features on Venmo Work?
What sets Venmo apart from other money transfer apps is that it was designed as a social platform as well as a peer-to-peer payment app. Venmo’s most useful social aspect is that it lets you add friends by sharing your Venmo username with them. You can also scan the QR code to locate particular profiles and add friends on Venmo.
Venmo hosts a “like” button similar to the feature on FaceBook and Instagram. You can use it to like a transaction that has gone through by pressing the heart symbol.
Moreover, you can interact with other users on Venmo by responding to the transaction with a comment. Tap the speech bubble symbol next to the particular transaction to write a reply.
The fun does not end here! Venmo does not allow you to send or request a payment without filling in a blank field below the transaction details. This is meant to write a reason for the payment, but you can still get creative and add personalized notes to the transfer. You can even put in emojis to communicate within the same message.
Is It Compulsory To Add Friends on Venmo?
Venmo allows you to add friends just like FaceBook or Instagram. However, it is not compulsory to do so. Venmo transactions will work even if you have 0 friends added to your account. Nonetheless, there are some benefits!
- Adding a Venmo user as a friend makes it easier to process payments to and from them regularly. It is a good idea if there is someone you have to exchange funds with regularly. This is because their name will automatically appear on your friend list when you initiate a new payment. Otherwise, you must search with their username and go through their payment history to find their profile.
- Unless Venmo payment is not going through, the app does not allow you to cancel a transfer. Therefore, to ensure you send it to the right person, it will ask you to enter the last four digits of their phone number as confirmation. Doing this every time you need to make a transfer to someone can become a hassle. You can avoid this by adding a particular Venmo user you interact with as Friends on the app.
- Inviting and adding friends to your Venmo profile is also a sure way of winning promotional offers in the app. Venmo gives $10 for free if a friend from your contact list joins Venmo on your referral. Isn’t that an exciting way to make some extra cash?
Can I Safely Use Venmo With Strangers?
Sending money to strangers through mobile money transfer apps is not advised. You must carefully scrutinize the account before sharing the funds because you need to send it to the right person to be able to retrieve the money.
Since the person you send money to will be able to see your personal information, such as name, social security number, and address, you must exercise caution to avoid identity theft or fraud.
Before You Go!
Venmo is a social app, so your transactions can get creative with additional features like a comment and a like button. However, since finances are involved, it is understandable why someone is uncomfortable sharing their payment and transaction details with others, even friends. You can take control of the settings to ensure no one invades your private financial matters, but you can not see who views your Venmo profile.
When you are done figuring out what privacy settings you want on Venmo, perhaps you would be interested in reading how to delete Venmo history or verify your identity on Venmo so you can use the app more confidently in the coming days!
Miriam Caldwell is a dedicated & expert freelance writer to educate people about personal finance management and budgeting. She shared her knowledge and published the articles at TheBalance.com, GOBankingRates, and BlissfullyDomestic.com. Many financial institutes pick Caldwell as the brilliant source for educational personal finance content.
