Venmo is free for most everyday transactions. Sending money to friends from a bank account, debit card, or your Venmo balance costs nothing. Fees only kick in when you use specific features like credit card payments, instant transfers, business transactions, or ATM withdrawals. Here’s a breakdown of every fee you might encounter.
Sending Money to Friends
Paying someone from your Venmo balance, a linked bank account, or a debit card is completely free. This covers the vast majority of what people use Venmo for: splitting rent, paying back a friend for dinner, or chipping in on a group gift.
The one exception is credit cards. If you fund a payment with a credit card, Venmo charges a 3% fee on the transaction amount. So a $100 payment to a friend would cost you $103. Most users avoid this by linking a bank account or debit card instead.
Transferring Money to Your Bank
Moving your Venmo balance to a linked bank account is free if you choose the standard transfer option, which typically takes one to three business days.
If you need the money faster, Venmo offers an Instant Transfer that deposits funds to your bank account or eligible debit card within minutes. That speed costs 1.75% of the transfer amount, with a minimum fee of $0.25 and a maximum of $25. On a $500 transfer, you’d pay $8.75. On a $2,000 transfer, the fee caps at $25 regardless of the amount.
Receiving Payments for Goods and Services
If you sell something and accept payment through Venmo’s goods and services feature, or if you operate a Venmo business profile, the seller pays a transaction fee on each payment received. This seller fee is a percentage of the transaction plus a fixed amount per payment. Buyers don’t pay anything extra. The purchase protection that comes with marking a payment as goods and services only applies when you use that designation, so casual person-to-person payments sent as friends and family aren’t covered.
Venmo Debit Card Fees
The Venmo Mastercard debit card lets you spend your Venmo balance at stores and online. Purchases made with the card don’t carry any additional Venmo fees, and the card has no monthly or annual fee.
ATM withdrawals are where costs appear. Venmo charges $2.50 per withdrawal at domestic ATMs, and the ATM operator will likely add its own surcharge on top of that. International ATM withdrawals also carry the $2.50 Venmo fee, even when no currency conversion is involved. For purchases made abroad, Venmo itself doesn’t charge an international transaction fee, though Mastercard sets the exchange rate used for currency conversion.
Cashing a Check
Venmo lets you cash checks by photographing them in the app. The fee depends on the type of check and how quickly you want the money. Payroll and government checks with a pre-printed signature cost 1% of the check amount to cash instantly, while all other accepted check types cost 5%. Both tiers have a $5 minimum fee. A $1,000 payroll check would cost you $10, while a $200 personal check would hit the $10 fee (5% of $200).
If you’re willing to wait, you can skip the fee entirely. Choosing the delayed option gives you the funds in about 10 days at no cost.
Fees You Won’t Pay
Venmo doesn’t charge a monthly fee, an account maintenance fee, or a fee to sign up. Receiving money from friends is free. Keeping a balance in your account is free. There’s no inactivity fee if you don’t use the app for a while. The service makes its money primarily from credit card surcharges, instant transfer fees, and business transaction fees, so the core peer-to-peer experience stays free for most users.