What is the secret to their success? Why is Venmo set so far apart from all other money-transferring apps? The secret to their success is their flawless integration of social media into their app. By allowing you to add people as friends for easy payment they also unlocked the means for a "timeline" on the app. Venmo strategically decided to make all payments appear as posts on a timeline that is visible when the app opens. While users may find it amusing to scroll through and see who's paying who this is not the real reason for this feature.
Since Venmo charges almost no transaction fees they make their money from companies, not their customers. To combat this Venmo creates partnerships with businesses pitching the same deal that is beneficial to everyone. Companies allow people to pay with Venmo, making the customers happy, in-turn Venmo gets 2.9% of those sales making Venmo rich, and finally, those customers essentially advertise the company they bought from every time the payment is posted on the app. Due to this ingenious system customers can now go shopping with nothing but their phone, Venmo is making millions, and partnered-companies are getting a constant stream of advertisement. The best part of it all? As more companies partner with Venmo, more people will want Venmo, making more companies want to partner up, and Venmo gets to sit back and watch the snowball effect making them more and more money. Can I Venmo You?
