Mobile payment app Venmo capitalizes on two tech trends

Social media and mobile payments have both seen huge growth in the past few years. That’s why one app, Venmo, has decided to capitalize on both those trends for an experience that appears to be gaining in popularity.

A night out in San Francisco at the trendy Ballanḉoire night club. The last thing Kristin Wojkowski wants to worry while swing dancing is carrying a purse. That’s why she loves using Venmo to split bills among friends.

"I would have had to go to the bank to get cash or separate the tab into like six with a credit card which is really inconvenient. I hate stopping by the bank, I never carry cash. I don’t carry a purse. I have my phone with me at all times." Venmo user Kristin Wojkowski said.

Wojkowski also enjoys the social aspect of Venmo. Users can easily connect Facebook friends and write cute comments to the people you’ve paid or received money from - a social record of your financial transactions.

"I have a lot of skepticism about the idea of Venmo. There’s a little feed of your friends that tells you when you pay a friend. But I just question, why do we need that information Why do we need to share that " Readwrite’s editor-in-chief Owen Thomas said.

But ReadWrite Editor-in-Chief Owen Thomas says Venmo does have a promising feature.

"The one thing that is great about Venmo is that they let you pay someone if you only know their cellphone number, because PayPal right now uses email to do that. And guess what, A lot of kids today don’t use email." Thomas said.

Venmo was purchased by the credit card processing company Braintree in 2012. Last year, eBay, which also owns Paypal, bought Braintree. Thus, Venmo and its main competitor PayPal, are now both owned by eBay, creating some concern that Venmo would be cast aside.

But Venmo continues to add new features - like its o-called "Nearby Payments" feature, which allows users to send a payment to someone in close proximity, even if you don’t know them. That puts Venmo in competition with companies like Square, which is popular for retailers.

"I use Square Cash as well. I just found it a lot more confusing. Like Venmo I knew what was happening, they sent me emails it was in my account, it was all super simple." Venmo user Genevieve Angle said.

As mobile payment companies attempt to outmaneuver one another with new features, in the end, customers will choose what best meets their on-the-go lifestyles.