Venmo’s Expansion and Security Implications

One of the biggest topics that surround any new financial technology is security. The reason for this is because of the private information that financial technology provides, transfers, and creates. While Venmo is not new, its popularity is continuing to grow and thus questions of its security are constantly raised. The application was launched in 2009 and began as a text messaging service but was soon transformed to a financial payment service. The service allows an individual to transfer money with the tap of a button, but with ease for users comes ease for hackers. Venmo has set a number of security checks in place to prevent any malicious behavior from taking place. These check include bank level security and data encryption as well as the option to set up a pin. Venmo also takes responsibility for any account losses if an individual’s information is compromised.

This application has become popular among young people as it is common for groups to use the app to split bills. It is comforting to know the sorts of precautions that the application takes to protect my information. One tactic that is used by fraudsters is sending the money, which provides a notification to the receiver. In the meantime, the sender can cancel the payment without the receiver finding out. These sorts of tactics should be made aware to users so they can be wary of these types of strategies. All in all, Venmo is a very useful application and as long as there are no major fraud cases, I would expect the usage to continue. It will be interesting to see if the app will start charging individuals for individual transactions or instead offer advertising for the app.

http://www.kcra.com/article/is-venmo-actually-safe-to-use/8989323