EXCLUSIVE- Payment app Venmo now has a transfer fee. But, thankfully, that fee is only for instant payments.
In an update to its terms & conditions yesterday, the social media payments app said it was adding a flat fee of $0.25 for an “Instant Transfer,” which is a duration of 30 minutes or less. The standard transfer of one to three business days will remain free.
While the transfer fees might be annoying to some, the ability to have a quick transfer is likely a feature intended to meet the challenge posed by bank-backed P2P app, Zelle. Engadget noted this is a version of a service previously offered by PayPal.
One of the advantages that Zelle boasted having over peers like Venmo or Square Cash is that it could provide realtime payment transfers as opposed to the typical lapse time of one to more days. Not anymore, at least not when Venmo is concerned. While traditional transactions via Zelle are free, banks are free to charge for faster payments via the service.
To learn more about P2P payments, join us on March 5-6, 2018 at the Parc 55 in San Francisco for Bank Innovation 2018. Click here to register.