Six years after first introducing a cashback credit card, Venmo is completely revamping the product with new rewards categories and more.
About the Updated Venmo Credit Card:
The Venmo Credit Card (issued by Synchrony Bank) has been completely reimagined. Now, cardholders can earn up to 4% cashback, with additional options to earn 3% back.
Headlining the new card is the split transaction bonus. While cardholders can now earn 3% cashback on dining, food delivery, streaming services, and event ticket purchases, they can unlock an additional 1% back when they utilize the split transaction feature in the Venmo app. To earn the bonus, the purchase must be paid back within 30 days.
In addition to the 3%-4% earned with this option, cardholders can also earn 3% back when they Pay with Venmo. This option is available at checkout on select websites, apps, and other retailers. Pay with Venmo may also be available for small businesses with a Venmo business profile. Peer-to-peer transactions may be eligible when “turn on for purchases” is activated for the Venmo Credit Card.
All other purchases with the Venmo Credit Card will earn 1% cashback.
Previously, the Venmo Credit Card offered a unique structure where cardholders would automatically earn 3% back on all purchases in an eligible spending category for the month as well as 2% back on all purchases in the second largest eligible spending category. The list of categories included:
- Dining & Nightlife (restaurants, take-out, delivery, bars, and more)
- Travel (airlines, hotels, motels, resorts, and more)
- Bills & Utilities (Telecommunications, Internet service providers, TV service, streaming services, electric or gas power, and more)
- Health & Beauty (drug stores, pharmacies, cosmetic stores, sports and recreation facilities, and more)
- Grocery (supermarkets, convenience stores, bakeries, delicatessens, wholesale clubs, and more)
- Gas (gas stations)
- Transportation (rental cars, taxis, rideshare, bus lines, passenger railways, tolls, parking meters, parking garage fees, and more)
- Entertainment (movie theaters, concerts, video rentals, bookstores, amusement parks, music stores, toy and hobby stores, and more)
Also gone is the lineup of card design colorways and the included Venmo account QR code. Instead, the card’s website shows a simple, blue design.
The Venmo Credit card continues to have no annual fee and does not charge foreign transaction fees. Earned cashback will be automatically deposited into a cardholder’s Venmo account daily. Additionally, customers have to the option to use their cashback to auto-purchase select cryptocurrency assets with no transaction fees.
What They’re Saying:
Commenting on the refreshed card, Venmo GM Alexis Sowa stated, “Venmo users have always been social spenders. They go out together, they split the bill, and they settle up in the app.. We built split-to-earn around how customers actually live and spend with friends, and it delivers on something we believe in deeply: the more you do with Venmo, the more you should get back.”
My Thoughts:
Although there are some interesting ideas on display with this update to the Venmo Credit Card, I can’t help but mourn the loss of the previous version. To me, the idea of automatically earning 3% back on your top spending category made the card attractive (although I now earn 3% back on everything thanks to my Robinhood Gold Card, so this is moot for me). Meanwhile, to maximize rewards with this new version, you’ll need to make purchases in an eligible category and then find a way to split the transaction with someone. I suppose that those with a “player 2” could make this happen fairly easily in order to game the 4% category… but that sounds like a lot of work to me.
The bottom line is that I never actually bothered to apply for the original Vnemo Credit Card — and I definitely won’t be applying for this updated incarnation.
