Before Venmo

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There are a few rules my friends and I like to follow when we are paying for one another, whether that be food when going out to dinner, a quick last-minute coffee run in the early mornings, sharing an Uber ride, or even paying for one another’s gas if you happen to borrow a friend’s car one day. Making sure one another’s money is getting back to the one friend that paid for everyone is crucial in my friendships with people. It’s a way of knowing we are looking out for one another and doing small, quick favors. The way we are easily capable of paying each other back is due to the app Venmo existing. Venmo is a cash app that makes transferring money easy, efficient, and can occur right at your fingertips. Not only is Venmo an app for exchanging some cash with friends, but it happens to be a popular app for almost anyone and anything. People also use Venmo in the workforce, whether that be someone paying rent, their babysitter, gathering fundraising donations, and many other factors.

(Image is from: https://time.com/nextadvisor/credit-cards/venmo-guide/)

Venmo links with your bank account and acts like an online, virtual credit card. You can transfer money, hold money on your own account, pay people for any necessities, or even request a friend to pay you back. This app is extremely secure and is always up and running. You are also able to view your transactions, while also people able to see what your friends and the rest of the world are doing with their money. Because we all depend on our phones and always have them with us at all times, Venmo allows you to have the availability to take care of your cash in an easy manner.  

(Image is from: https://www.tomsguide.com/news/what-is-venmo)

Venmo, or any other cash app, would not have been around without the internet, which is something we all rely on every single day of our lives. Before the internet, exchanging money would have to be dealt with in person. People would have to physically hand people their money, whether that be in cash or check. With that being said, and depending on how much money is being exchanged, you most likely would have to go to the bank in some degree in order to make sure you are financially capable of losing that amount of money. Another way people had to exchange money is by sending it through mail services, which takes effort and can be inconvenient. Someone would have to physically travel to the nearest postal office, while also having to pay for stamps or any other mailing fees. They would also have to worry about making sure the money was not only arriving to the person they are sending it to, but to also arrive on time if there is a deadline for a payment. Unfortunately, nobody has control over the mailing services, so if a backup on deliveries occurred, things would start to go downhill. Alongside this, it was not as easy to track your own mail as it is in present time, so sending money through mail could have been a risky game to play. However, people did not have the choice. Now, with Venmo, the internet, and most people who have cellular devices, you can now pay people in the blink of an eye, with no fees, hesitations, or big and inconvenient struggles.

Not only can you now connect your bank account to the app, but you can have your own Venmo credit or debit card. Venmo now gives you access to buy Bitcoin, a digital currency, meaning the app is very up to date with present time. Venmo has been a very successful app for quite some time now and continues to update as new ideas and ways of living change.

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