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Venmo is a popular peer-to-peer lending platform where you can send and receive money in a jiffy. Owned by PayPal, Venmo is currently available only in the United States and the platform is quickly taking over the country.
The platform recorded a growth of over 50% in 2022 and has over 90 million users in the country. One of the many reasons for the popularity of Venmo is that the recipient receives the money instantly. However, this might cause a few troubles, especially for those who sent the money to someone other than the intended person.
In this article, we will explain whether you can reverse your Venmo payment and alternatives.
Can you reverse a Venmo payment?
Unfortunately, you cannot reverse a Venmo payment once you have confirmed it. As explained earlier, the receiver gets the money instantly and the platform provides no mechanism to reverse the transaction.
“It is not possible to cancel a payment to an existing Venmo account. Once a payment is sent, the funds are available to the recipient right away,” says Venmo’s help centre on this issue.
Usually, this happens with almost all the major money transfer applications. Even if you send money via the banking apps, you will have to go through the proper channels to receive the money back and have to prove that the money you sent was accidental.
Also read: Does Venmo refund money if you’re scammed?
How can you get your money back on Venmo?
Now, the question arises: if you cannot reverse a Venmo payment, then how will you get back the money?
There are a few alternatives that you can try:
Contact the recipient
The first and immediate action you should take is to contact the recipient and explain the situation to them. You can tell them that you mistakenly sent the money and ask them to send it.
Contact the Venmo support
You can contact Venmo support for additional assistance in the matter. “If you accidentally sent a payment to a stranger, please contact our support team, and we’ll do our best to help,” explains the Venmo help centre.
Make sure you have the following information ready:
- Username of the accidental recipient.
- Payment amount.
- Payment date.
- The username, phone number, and email address of the person who was meant to receive the money.
That being said, talking to Venmo support doesn’t guarantee your money will be refunded. Money will only be refunded under these circumstances:
- If the recipient gives permission.
- The recipient’s account has enough money.
- Their account is in good standing.
Venmo is silent on the issue if the recipient doesn’t allow the payment to be revealed.
Moreover, Venmo hints that opening a dispute won’t solve the situation. Maybe you will have to contact the authorities then.
Also read: Venmo search not working: Quick Fix
Tips to prevent mistakes
Now that we have understood how difficult is to get payment back once you sent it to the wrong person, follow these tips to ensure that you make no mistakes:
- Double-check details: While doing the money transfer, calm down and always double-check the receiver’s details. Once you are sufficiently satisfied, confirm the transaction.
- Use Venmo only with trusted contacts: You should limit your Venmo transactions to only certain contacts you trust fully. This way, you can get your money back if you accidentally send it.
In conclusion, you cannot reverse a transition on Venmo. However, you can ask the recipient to return the money or call Venmo support for their assistance and hope they do their best.
Also read: Can you send money from Venmo to Cash App?
