Yes, Venmo does charge a fee in some situations, but most everyday use is free. Sending money to friends from your Venmo balance, a linked bank account, or a debit card costs nothing, and moving money back to your bank on the standard timeline is free too. Fees appear when you pay with a credit card, want an instant cash-out, receive payments for goods and services, cash a check through the app, or buy and sell cryptocurrency.
What Venmo Doesn’t Charge For
Personal payments between Venmo users are free as long as you fund them with your Venmo balance, a linked checking or savings account, or a verified debit card.1Venmo. About Venmo Fees Receiving money from friends is free. Adding money to your balance from a linked bank account is free. Direct deposits arrive with no fee.
Cashing out is also free if you can wait. A standard transfer to your bank account runs through the ACH system and typically arrives in one to three business days at no cost.2Venmo. Bank Transfer Timeline Weekends and bank holidays can stretch that window, so plan ahead if a bill is due.
The 3% Credit Card Fee
Funding a payment with a linked credit card adds 3% to the total.1Venmo. About Venmo Fees Send $100 that way and your credit card will show a $103 charge. The fee applies to any payment funded by a credit card, no matter who you’re sending to.
Avoiding it is straightforward. Before you tap send, open the payment method screen and switch to your bank account, debit card, or Venmo balance. Venmo shows the fee upfront, so you’ll see it in time to change funding sources.
Instant Transfer Fees
If you need money in your bank account within minutes instead of days, Venmo charges 1.75% for an instant transfer. The minimum fee is $0.25 and the maximum is $25, so any transfer above roughly $1,429 costs a flat $25.1Venmo. About Venmo Fees
Instant transfers only work with U.S. bank accounts or Visa and Mastercard debit cards that support real-time payment services such as Visa Fast Funds or Mastercard Send.3Venmo. Instant Bank Transfer FAQ If your bank doesn’t participate, Venmo will tell you at the time of the transfer, and you can fall back to a standard transfer for free.
Fees for Receiving Business and Goods-and-Services Payments
Getting paid for something you sold costs money, and the fee comes out of the recipient’s side rather than the sender’s.
Payments to a Venmo business profile are charged a seller transaction fee of 1.9% plus $0.10 per transaction. Tap to Pay payments run slightly higher at 2.29% plus $0.09.1Venmo. About Venmo Fees On a $500 sale processed the standard way, Venmo keeps $9.60 and you receive $490.40.
Even without a business profile, a personal payment that the sender tags as being for goods and services triggers a 2.99% fee on whoever is receiving the money.1Venmo. About Venmo Fees The trade-off is that tagged and business payments come with Venmo’s purchase protection for eligible items, which is why the sender pays nothing extra.
One thing to know if you sell: refunding a buyer does not refund the seller transaction fee to you. You’ll need enough in your balance to cover both the payment and the fee you already paid.4Venmo. Business Profiles Refunds Venmo may also charge a chargeback fee if a buyer disputes a payment with their card issuer.5Venmo. User Agreement
Cashing a Check Through Venmo
Venmo lets you deposit a check by photographing it. What you pay depends on the type of check and how fast you want the money.6Venmo. Cash a Check FAQ
- Payroll and government checks, fast deposit: 1% of the check, $5 minimum. Funds within minutes.
- Other accepted checks, fast deposit: 5% of the check, $5 minimum. Funds within minutes.
- 10-day deposit: no fee for either type; funds available after 10 days.
If you can wait, the 10-day option is free.
Cryptocurrency Fees
Buying and selling crypto through Venmo uses a tiered fee schedule.1Venmo. About Venmo Fees
- $1 to $74.99: 2.20%
- $75 to $200: 2.00%
- $200.01 to $1,000: 1.80%
- Over $1,000: 1.50%
These fees do not apply to transactions in PayPal USD (PYUSD), Venmo’s affiliated stablecoin. Sending crypto to another Venmo or PayPal user is free. Sending crypto to an external wallet involves a variable network fee paid in the cryptocurrency itself, and Venmo displays the exact amount before you confirm.
Venmo Debit Card Fees
The Venmo Mastercard debit card has no monthly fee and costs nothing to order or replace. Cash withdrawals are free at any of the roughly 40,000 MoneyPass ATMs in the U.S.7Venmo. Cashback and Rewards Debit Card
Using an ATM outside the MoneyPass network, including ATMs abroad, costs $2.50 per withdrawal, and the ATM operator may add its own charge on top of that.1Venmo. About Venmo Fees An over-the-counter withdrawal at a bank branch runs $3.00. Adding cash to your Venmo balance at a participating retail store costs $3.74 per transaction.
Venmo Credit Card Fees
The Venmo Visa credit card, issued by Synchrony Bank, has its own fee structure. A cash advance costs the greater of $10 or 5% of the advance, and cash advances include ATM withdrawals, money orders, cashier’s checks, wire transfers, and lottery tickets.8Synchrony Financial / Venmo. Venmo Visa Credit Card Account Agreement Rates, Fees and Payment Information A $100 cash advance triggers the $10 minimum; a $300 advance costs $15.
The card charges no foreign transaction fee, so purchases outside the U.S. don’t carry an extra surcharge on top of the exchange rate.
Sending Money Outside the U.S.
Venmo lets you send to non-U.S. PayPal accounts, but international transfers are priced separately. Funding from your balance, bank account, or debit card costs 5% of the amount, with a $0.99 minimum and a $4.99 maximum. If you fund an international transfer with a credit card, you pay the 5% and the standard 3% credit card fee on top.1Venmo. About Venmo Fees
How to Avoid Venmo Fees
A few habits keep most Venmo transactions free:
- Fund payments with your Venmo balance, a linked bank account, or a debit card. Skip the credit card unless you’re willing to pay 3%.
- Use standard bank transfers instead of instant transfers when you don’t need the money the same day.
- Ask friends who are paying you back to send it as a personal payment, not tagged as goods and services.
- Choose the free 10-day option if you cash a check through the app and aren’t in a rush.
- Withdraw cash from MoneyPass ATMs when you use the Venmo debit card.
Venmo shows the fee on the confirmation screen before you send or transfer, so the last check is simply to read that line before tapping through.