Can You See Who Views Your Venmo Profile?

Not only is Venmo a useful tool for paying and getting paid quickly, but the social aspect of the app, such as writing amusing reasons for the payments you make, add an element of fun to the function. You can view public transactions, but can you see who looks at your profile on Venmo?

Currently there is no way to see who views your profile or activity on Venmo, unless they interact with a transaction by liking or replying to it. For people concerned about privacy, Venmo allows users to hide their activity from the public by adjusting certain settings.

Keep reading to learn more about the public and private aspects of Venmo, and how to change your own preferences in the app.

What Are the Social Functions of Venmo?

Venmo is not just a money-transferring app. It is also a social app where you can add your friends. 

Here are the social functions of Venmo:

• You can add your friends by sharing Venmo usernames, or by scanning the QR code located on your Venmo profile page. 
• In order to send or request a payment, you have to write a reason for the payment. You cannot leave this field blank. Many users take this opportunity to get creative with their transactions. Instead of simply writing “rent and utilities,” they may put emojis that communicate the same message.
• Once a transaction has gone through, you have the option to “like” it by tapping the heart symbol on the transaction.
• You can also respond to the transaction with a comment by tapping the speech bubble symbol. 

Now, let’s see why you would add your friends on Venmo.

Why Would You Add Friends On Venmo?

Perhaps it seems odd for a money-transferring app to have a social function. However, adding friends on Venmo can be useful for a few different reasons.

Easily Make Repeat Payments

If you have to make a regular payment to one person, adding them as your friend can make this easier. You won’t have to type in their username each time, or search through your payment history for their profile. Their name will automatically show up in a “friends list” whenever you start a new payment. 

Verify That You’re Paying the Right Person

Venmo does offer a way to verify that you are sending money to the correct person by asking you to enter the last four digits of their phone number before sending the payment. However, adding a person to your friends list provides an extra method of verification. This is also useful if you don’t have the phone number of the person you’re paying.

By adding someone to your friend list, you’ll know for any future transactions that this is the correct person. Once you are friends with someone on Venmo, you can see what mutual friends you both have in common. If you have no friends in common, there’s a chance that you started a transaction to the wrong person!

Get Deals and Vouchers

Venmo occasionally offers promotions, where you can earn a free $10 by inviting friends from your phone’s contact list to Venmo. If you refer someone to Venmo and add them as a friend, it can be a quick way to make a little extra cash.

What Can People See on Your Profile?

Venmo profiles are public. 

If someone looks up your username, they’ll be able to see your:

• Name
• Profile picture
• Friend list
• Public transaction history

The public transaction history includes any public payments you’ve made to other people, as well as public and private transactions between the two of you, if any. They likely won’t be able to see your full transaction history, just the most recent payments you’ve sent and received.

How Do I Get Privacy on Venmo?

If you’re looking to protect your privacy on Venmo, consider removing your profile picture if it is a personal photo. Be aware that this may make you harder to reach, even by people who you want contacting you.

Your friends list will be public by default, but you can make it private in settings:

1. On your Venmo app, go to Settings
2. Go to Privacy
3. Click More
4. Choose Friends List
5. There, you can choose whether your friends list should remain public, be visible only to your Venmo friends, or be completely private. 
6. You can also toggle whether your username will appear in other people’s public friends lists.

Finally, you can change the privacy settings for the transactions you send and receive. You can change the privacy settings for each transaction as you make them, or you can go to Settings, then Privacy to set a default preference. The options here are the same as the options with your friends list.

Conclusion

Venmo can make something as necessary and mundane as money transfers fun. However, when it comes to personal finances, it is natural to want to keep your cards a little closer to your chest.

If you are worried about a person invading your private financial matters through Venmo, you can simply block them by tapping the three vertical dots in the corner of their Venmo profile. Venmo is fun, but safety is important too. Happy paying!