Venmo and PayPal, two of the most widely used digital payment apps, are finally becoming interoperable. Beginning in November, Venmo and PayPal users will be able to pay each other directly, ending years of workarounds.
“Venmo users and PayPal users will be able to pay each other in the U.S. and worldwide,” Venmo announced in an email to customers. “That means PayPal users will be able to find and pay you using your phone number, and later using your email address.”
Until now, users often struggled with transferring money between the two platforms, despite Venmo being owned by PayPal. Many believed the feature should have existed long ago, but the companies are only just rolling it out.
PayPal first hinted at this expansion in July when it introduced PayPal World, a global network of payment partners including Mercado Pago, NPCI International Payments Limited, and Tenpay Global. The goal is to simplify cross-border transfers and cut fees, making payments more seamless for billions of users.
Combined, Venmo and PayPal serve 2 billion users worldwide, according to PayPal.
For privacy-conscious Venmo users, settings can be updated in the app: navigate to Settings > Privacy > Find Me to manage visibility, and consider defaulting transactions to private.
Related: PayPal Offers Early Access to Perplexity’s Comet Browser and Free Pro Subscription
This long-awaited update will allow users to send money across both platforms with just a phone number, and soon, an email address, making digital payments simpler than ever.
