Venmo is a great app designed to transfer money between people without having to hand out cash or write checks. It basically works like PayPal. To be more precise, this is a part of PayPal. However, they do have some differences. For example, Venmo makes joint payments, such as splitting bills at bars or restaurants, much easier for everyone.
Venmo also has a sort of social networking aspect, where you can add friends and see who paid who for what. However, not all users like this feature of the Venmo app and so many try to make the transaction history disappear. Nevertheless, not everything is as simple as it seems at first glance. It would seem that what could be difficult in clearing the history of transactions. You can’t do it directly, so you need to know a couple of things to hide your transaction history in Venmo.
What is Venmo?
Venmo is a company that most Americans have heard of at some point, even if they’ve never used it. It can be an extremely convenient way to handle simple money transactions, but it’s not quite the same as a bank account or debit card. Venmo is an Android and iOS app that makes it quick and easy to transfer between individuals.
It’s primarily for friends, and it’s usually marketed as a way to split bills, reimburse friends for cab rides, or pay roommates half of the rent. Venmo is tied to a bank account or debit/credit card, though the app also has a balance and you can check it in the almost same way as on PayPal.
What makes Venmo unique is its focus on social interaction. Each payment has a message attached to it that’s publicly posted with the dollar amount removed. This works just like other social media channels like Twitter or Facebook. If you’ve been using Venmo for some time, you probably know that it’s a social networking application.
You probably also know that it can make some or all of your transactions visible to a certain circle of people. If you’re concerned about privacy, you’ve probably wondered how to delete Venmo’s transaction history.
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Can you clear Venmo transactions history?
Unfortunately, it’s not possible to completely remove your Venmo transaction history. Even if you go to the extreme of closing your Venmo account, your payment history will remain in the system. Single payments will also remain on the devices of those you transacted with, as those payments are also part of their transaction history. However, you can protect your privacy on Venmo in other ways.
Transaction visibility is related to how the Venmo feed is configured. By default, all transactions are sent to the public feed, which means that anyone with a Venmo developer API can see them. They don’t need to have an app or permission from users.
Although the feed doesn’t show the amount that was transferred, the names and photos of all parties involved are displayed, as well as the date, time, and purpose of the transaction. In addition, all messages that were attached to the transaction will be visible to the public. Of course, in case of an error, you can always also cancel the transaction on Venmo.
How to change transactions privacy settings on Venmo
The best way to protect all this information from people outside your friends’ list is to change the default settings for posting to your feed. To do so, you have to follow these steps:
- First of all, navigate to the “Settings” menu in the Venmo app on your smartphone.
- After that, select “Privacy” and under “Default Privacy Settings” choose the “Private” option.
- Tap “Change Anyway” in the confirmation window that appears.
- Go to the “Privacy” screen again and tap “Past Transactions”.
- Finally, tap “Change All to Private”, and then confirm this action.
You should also be aware that, although you can change the default privacy settings to other settings at any time, if you have set the privacy of your past transactions, this change cannot be undone. By the way, PayPal also doesn’t allow its users to delete their transaction history, but you can always close your account.
How does Venmo work?
Venmo is a mobile platform, so you need to download the app from the Google Play Store or Apple App Store to use it. You then need to create an account and, if you want to send money, link a U.S. bank account or credit/debit card. Venmo doesn’t currently work with bank accounts outside of the U.S.
The service essentially works as an intermediary and transfers money from your Venmo account to another person’s account. It can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days to transfer funds to another user’s account. If you have enough money in your account, the money will be deducted from it, otherwise, the entire amount will be transferred from your preferred payment method (bank account, debit card, or credit card).
Venmo also allows you to block users you don’t want to interact with. Once blocked, you won’t see each other’s transaction history, and your profiles will appear as deleted. The good news is that you can always unblock your friend on Venmo if you’ve solved all your problems.
How to make an individual transaction private on Venmo
If you want to make a single transaction private on Venmo, you have to follow these steps:
- At first, open the Venmo app on your mobile device and tap on your profile icon located at the bottom right corner of the screen.
- Then, select your transaction and tap on the blue link next to the “Transaction Details” section.
- Finally, choose the “Private” option.
Once you have completed these steps, you will be able to make an individual transaction private in your Venmo account. In addition to the “Private” option, you can also choose “Pubic” or “Friends” if you want to share a single transaction with other users.
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Why does Venmo gather information about its users?
It may seem wrong to some, but Venmo has to collect a lot of information about its users and their transactions. Although Venmo does share some of your data with third parties, this is only done to protect customers.
Much of the information collected is used to improve transaction security and fraud prevention. However, the main reason to make sure your information is secure is because of unauthorized individuals who want access to your data for a variety of reasons.
Because of this, Venmo analyzes how its users manage their funds in order to prevent different kinds of fraudulent schemes. After all, hardly anyone would want their money to be stolen and fall into the wrong hands.
Splaitor doesn’t provide any investment, money management, or trading advice. Read our Disclaimer to know more.
