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Thanks to Venmo, We Now All Know How Cheap Our Friends Are

nytimes.com

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Re: Thanks to Venmo, We Now All Know How Cheap Our Friends Are

#341

Post by icebraining »

intopieces wrote: post #222
int_19h wrote: post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not just say "separate bills" at the beginning, so that you get them itemized individually?

I do not ask for this unless the server offers it. It takes longer to get the bill and pay for it, then if the server is busy / inattentive they just dump the cards on the table and let the group of 12 adults squint at Chase cards.

So much for the tip system ensuring better service. I can't imagine a server doing that around here. Then again, we use Chip&Pin, so it's not like they could take them all anyway.

Re: Thanks to Venmo, We Now All Know How Cheap Our Friends Are

#342

Post by AstralStorm »

gonehome wrote: post #210
schrodinger wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Be careful, they technically don't allow commercial transactions and will freeze your account (and reverse transactions) if they catch you. I got a stern warning after selling something on Craigslist and accepting payment via venmo, they must have figured it out by the note and lack of network of friends with the buyer.

That's a bad idea because you're likely to get scammed: http://www.slate.com/articles/business/moneybox/2015/09/venm... Basically if you're doing a transaction with an untrusted person the time it takes for things to clear means you can be taken advantage of.

It is not about scams, but lost earnings from PayPal services which are expensive for a wire transfer.

Venmo has a similar dispute system and you can often bounce on credit card too.

Re: Thanks to Venmo, We Now All Know How Cheap Our Friends Are

#345

Post by sk0g »

taneq wrote: post #316
pacaro wrote: post #252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not putting it in neutral when stopped can contribute to failing your driving test in the U.K.

Interesting. In Australia you're required to keep it in 1st with the clutch in while at red lights.

For the P plate tests maybe, but that'd depend on the state too.

The way you phrased it makes me think of cops at lights just going around and aggressively throwing gear sticks into 1st.

Re: Thanks to Venmo, We Now All Know How Cheap Our Friends Are

#346

Post by jchw »

mehwoot wrote: post #283
jchw wrote: post #78

I'm reading this as someone being upset that they were asked to pay for what they ordered, with the excuse that the app somehow makes the world less "chivalrous." I say whatever. I'm not friends with people because I trade off doing nice gestures. Some people account for their money and would greatly prefer to balance the books. Fine. Is it really a big deal to pay what you owe? It's not like they asked you more effo…

I'm reading this as someone being upset that they were asked to pay for what they ordered So you assume some unstated motivation behind something and then get angry about the thing you just made up? Hmmm...

I said reading as not assuming.

Re: Thanks to Venmo, We Now All Know How Cheap Our Friends Are

#347

Post by taneq »

sk0g wrote: post #345
taneq wrote: post #316

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting. In Australia you're required to keep it in 1st with the clutch in while at red lights.

For the P plate tests maybe, but that'd depend on the state too. The way you phrased it makes me think of cops at lights just going around and aggressively throwing gear sticks into 1st.

I was responding to a post which said:

> Not putting it in neutral when stopped can contribute to failing your driving test in the U.K.

So the context was specifically driving tests.

Re: Thanks to Venmo, We Now All Know How Cheap Our Friends Are

#348

Post by curiousGambler »

extr wrote: post #77

Young millennial male, every single person I know uses Venmo. IMO this article largely misses the point of the app. It's replaced cash/checks is all, it's not some huge social upheaval in the way we use money that needs to be analyzed. In my experience it's rarely used for splitting bills for dinner or picking up bar tabs (I can't remember the last time I went somewhere that wasn't able to split the bill on their end…

My friend groups use it for dinner etc. despite most places being able to split checks because it's easier for us to figure it out amongst ourselves than burden some waitress with splitting it (even if their software makes it easy, they still have to take four cards and run them all and return them to their proper owners and such).

Re: Thanks to Venmo, We Now All Know How Cheap Our Friends Are

#349

Post by Kihashi »

balladeer wrote: post #281
tikhonj wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Venmo is, effectively, a social network; it's going to get popular along social lines. Depending on whether it's caught on among your immediate friends and acquaintances, you'd expect to either know a lot of people using Venmo or very few.

In India a lot of people use Splitwise. I am on it and my bill splitting, and personal borrowing/leding records are handled by the app. Though it doesn't handle actual money transfers yet; they have no such integrations. Is Venmo similar? https://www.splitwise.com

Not really. In the US, Splitwise has a "settle up" button that lets your record a cash payment or use Venmo or Paypal to send the correct amount owed to the other person. Splitwise keeps track of who owes who. Venmo lets you pay them.

Re: Thanks to Venmo, We Now All Know How Cheap Our Friends Are

#350

Post by Kihashi »

wastedhours wrote: post #332
gonehome wrote: post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Venmo was bought by Braintree which was bought by PayPal so venmo is basically PayPal now anyway. Everyone I know also uses venmo (Bay Area tech employees in their twenties). I prefer square cash, but this entire app ecosystem only exists because American banks don't allow free wires for some reason. The only people I know who use google wallet are google employees. As far as trust there's pretty limited risk, lots o…

> I prefer square cash, but this entire app ecosystem only exists because American banks don't allow free wires for some reason. Ah - I kept wondering what the main hook for these services was, appreciate efficiency and social effects are the USP, but wondered what the main reason was over and above just a direct transfer from your mobile banking app (how most people I know here in the UK do this).

Lots of banks here (US) offer a p2p transfer services of some sort, but often, it's not as simple to use. For example, through Ally bank, I can send money to someone using PopMoney--

* If I know their bank routing number and account number, I can just send them money directly without any involvement on their end.

    * Most people will not just give out their account info, even though it's on every check they write.
* I can use email or mobile phone to send a payment, but then the person on the other end has to deal with entering the same info into popmoney to accept the transaction. At that point, they have to trust popmoney.

None of this would be a problem except that each bank uses a different system. Chase uses ChasePay. Ally and PNC use PopMoney. There are several others. This causes a lot of friction when sending money. "Oh, you use chase pay? Now I have to set up an account there, too."

Venmo (and others) let you abstract away the bank details. Everyone in your friend group signs up for 1 account (and it could be a competing service. I like Sqaure Cash) and is ready to send. They also offer better account lookup and the ability to send a payment request.

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