Use Payouts to Venmo

DocsCurrentLast updated: January 26th 2022, @ 4:57:10 pm


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.

Payouts to Venmo features

  • Access Venmo's active network of over 40 million users
  • Customize brand messages in recipients' feeds
  • Leverage the same payouts integration as PayPal
  • Send to any US mobile number
  • Use a Venmo handle to send a payment to a Venmo account

Recipient experience

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.

Venmo recipient flow

Payouts to Venmo handles

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.

Enable payouts to Venmo

You can use the Payouts API or Payouts Web to send payments to Venmo recipients.

Payouts API

Here's how to send payouts to Venmo recipients through the Payouts API:

  1. Complete the prerequisites to send payouts.
  2. Make sure you've integrated the Payouts API.
  3. Set recipient_wallet to Venmo.
  4. Set recipient_type to PHONE for a mobile number, EMAIL for an email address, or USER_HANDLE for a Venmo handle.
  5. Set receiver to the recipient's mobile number, email address, or Venmo handle, as indicated in recipient_type.
  6. Add a note to the recipient in note.
1{
2 "sender_batch_header": {
3 "sender_batch_id": "123B"
4 },
5 "items": [{
6 "recipient_type": "PHONE",
7 "amount": {
8 "value": "10.50",
9 "currency": "USD"
10 },
11 "note": "Thanks for your patronage!",
12 "receiver": "999-999-9999",
13 "sender_item_id": "1001",
14 "recipient_wallet": "Venmo"
15 }]
16 }

Payouts Web

Here's how to send payouts to Venmo recipients through Payouts Web:

  1. Complete the prerequisites to send payouts.
  2. Make sure you've enabled Payouts Web.
  3. Add a Recipient Wallet column with Venmo to your payment file. Include a Message to recipient for Venmo recipients. If you leave a cell blank, Recipient Wallet defaults to PayPal.
Payouts Web .csv

See Payouts Web for more on how to create and upload the payment file.

Large Batch Payouts

Here's how to send payouts to Venmo recipients through PayPal's DropZone secure FTP server:

  1. Complete the prerequisites to send payouts.
  2. Set up a DropZone account.
  3. Create a .csv input file with PAYOUT_VENMO items. The following sample sends a payout to three PayPal recipients and two Venmo recipients:
1{
2 PAYOUT_SUMMARY,17.9,USD,5,"You got paid",Payout for
3 PAYOUT,test-1@paypal.com,4.82,USD,REF_ID_1,NOTE_1
4 PAYOUT_VENMO,5551232368,4.93,USD,REF_ID_2,NOTE_2
5 PAYOUT_VENMO,5551232369,2.77,USD,REF_ID_3,NOTE_3
6 PAYOUT,test-4@paypal.com,3.51,USD,REF_ID_4,NOTE_4
7 PAYOUT,test-5paypal.com,1.87,USD,REF_ID_5,NOTE_5
8}