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Last updated: June 30, 2026
You can use a mobile number or an email ID to send payments to a Venmo recipient. If they don't have a Venmo account, it's easy to open one. Payouts to Venmo is available in the US only.
Important: Now you can send payouts to Venmo handles.
When you send the payout, the recipient's phone notifies them that the payment is in their Venmo account. If recipients don't have Venmo, they receive a text message to create an account and claim their payout. The notification includes the note you sent.
When the recipient selects the notification, their Venmo profile opens.
Your message shows up in the recipient's Venmo feed. The message inherits the recipient's privacy settings.
You can use a recipient's Venmo handle to send a payment. A Venmo handle is a unique username the customer chooses to send and receive payments.
Offering Venmo as a payout option may improve participation in rewards programs or social campaigns. You can encourage users to share their Venmo handles to receive payments.
You can direct payouts to a recipient's Venmo handle by setting recipient_type to USER_HANDLE and passing their handle using receiver, as described in the Payouts API process.
You can use the Payouts API or Payouts Web to send payments to Venmo recipients.
Here's how to send payouts to Venmo recipients through the Payouts API:
recipient_wallet to Venmo.recipient_type to PHONE for a mobile number, EMAIL for an email address, or USER_HANDLE for a Venmo handle.receiver to the recipient's mobile number, email address, or Venmo handle, as indicated in recipient_type.note.{
"sender_batch_header": {
"sender_batch_id": "123B"
},
"items": [{
"recipient_type": "PHONE",
"amount": {
"value": "10.50",
"currency": "USD"
},
"note": "Thanks for your patronage!",
"receiver": "999-999-9999",
"sender_item_id": "1001",
"recipient_wallet": "Venmo"
}]
}Here's how to send payouts to Venmo recipients through Payouts Web:
See Payouts Web for more on how to create and upload the payment file.
Here's how to send payouts to Venmo recipients through PayPal's DropZone secure FTP server:
PAYOUT_VENMO items. The following sample sends a payout to three PayPal recipients and two Venmo recipients:{
PAYOUT_SUMMARY,17.9,USD,5,"You got paid",Payout for
PAYOUT,test-1@paypal.com,4.82,USD,REF_ID_1,NOTE_1
PAYOUT_VENMO,5551232368,4.93,USD,REF_ID_2,NOTE_2
PAYOUT_VENMO,5551232369,2.77,USD,REF_ID_3,NOTE_3
PAYOUT,test-4@paypal.com,3.51,USD,REF_ID_4,NOTE_4
PAYOUT,test-5paypal.com,1.87,USD,REF_ID_5,NOTE_5
}