AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Remember when you shared a taxi or restaurant tab, friends demanded to calculate and exchange money? It wasn’t that long ago.

These days people just say “Venmo me”. Venmo has become the go-to app for splitting bills, paying back friends, and making quick cash transfers.

With around 90 million users, it is undeniably popular. But is it safe?

The answer is yes, but with some caveats.

While Venmo uses bank-level security and encryption, there are steps you can take to make your transactions even more secure and protect your personal information.

When you first signed up for a Venmo account, you may have skipped a step that allows anyone to see your spending and receiving activity.

When you open the app, you’ll see transactions between friends. But how did Venmo get those contacts?

It asked when you first created the account to add everyone in your phone’s contact list to a Venmo friend list. That’s why you might see your friend Stephanie paying someone you don’t know for a yard sale bargain.

Venmo has a social aspect that can be fun but also poses privacy risks. By default, your transactions can be visible to your friends and even their friends.

This means that your spending habits can be exposed to a wider audience than you would like.

For example, go look for a friend in your Venmo feed.

By tapping their name, you can see their list of Venmo contacts and who they’ve paid and for what. By tapping their name, you can see their friends and so on.

How to lock your privacy:

• Change your privacy settings: Go to Settings > Privacy and set your transactions to “Private”. This ensures that only the sender and receiver can see your activity.
• Hide your friends list: Also make your friends list private in Settings > Privacy. You can also turn off the option to appear in other users’ friend lists.
• Limit your visible information: Think carefully about what personal information you display on your profile. Do you really need to show your full name and profile picture to everyone?

Enable Face ID or Touch ID

Adding an extra layer of security with Face ID or Touch ID can prevent unauthorized access to your account. This is especially important if your phone is ever lost or stolen.

Don’t keep a lot of money in your Venmo wallet

Treat your Venmo balance as cash. Don’t keep large sums of money in your Venmo account. Transfer money to your bank account regularly.

Consider a separate bank account

For an even higher level of security, you may want to open a separate checking account exclusively for Venmo transactions. This can help protect your primary bank account in the event of a security breach.

Remember: Venmo is generally safe to use, but taking these precautions can give you extra peace of mind. By paying attention to your privacy settings, enabling additional security features, and managing your Venmo balance wisely, you can enjoy the convenience of this popular app while minimizing risk.

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