Venmo connects to your bank account and contains a lot of sensitive personal and financial information. However, the app shows all of your payments and contacts publicly by default. This means anyone can see who you’re paying, when, why and make inferences about your life.
In this guide, I’ll walk you step-by-step through how to take back control of your privacy on Venmo. You’ll learn:
- Exact settings to make all payments private
- Extra precautions to stay secure on Venmo
- How it compares privacy-wise to Zelle and Cash App
By the end, you’ll have the confidence to use Venmo privately — without oversharing your financial life.
Overview: Venmo’s Public Feed Risks
Let’s look closer at why Venmo’s public transaction feed poses privacy and security concerns:
- The feed shows your full payment history — every recipient, amount, date/time, and comment.
- Strangers can view your profile and activity just by searching your display name or phone number.
- The app links directly to your bank account, credit cards and personal info like your email address.
This data oversharing has enabled:
- Embarrassing purchases being visible to your contacts like late night bar tabs or trips to the liquor store.
- Identity theft from strangers piecing together details about your life from your payments.
- Targeted financial scams using names/numbers seen in your public feed.
According to recent FTC reports, 25% of people who overshare personal data on payment apps later fall victim to fraud.
So why take the risk when limiting Venmo privacy is easy?
Step 1: Log Into Your Venmo Account
First, log into the Venmo app or website if on desktop.
Once logged in, click your profile picture in the top-right corner then choose “Settings” on mobile or “Account Settings” on desktop.
Step 2: Click on Privacy Settings
In Settings, scroll down and select “Privacy”. Tap or click this option marked by a lock icon to view your privacy controls.
Step 3: Set Future Payments to Private
Under “Default Privacy Settings”, tap or select the current setting next to “Future Payments” — likely “Public”. Choose “Private” from the menu.
This hides all future Venmo payments from public view automatically. No recipients, amounts or other data will appear in the feed or search results for anyone.
Step 4: Hide Past Payment History
Next, click or tap “Past Payments” above the “Future Payments” section.
Toggle the current setting from Public to Private by choosing “Change to Private”.
Doing so hides your entire Venmo payment history from public visibility going forward.
That’s all it takes! Now all of your Venmo payments — past and future — are completely private.🙌
Why Venmo Privacy Matters
Wondering why such small, everyday payments need privacy in the first place?
It boils down to: even minor purchases reveal extremely personal details over time. Things like:
- Medical visits/prescriptions indicating health conditions
- Frequent trips pointing to relationships, kids or other obligations
- Saving goals like vacations, vehicles or big expenses
Based on names of contacts and vendors alone, a stranger could piece together where you live, work, your family members and much more.
And that personal data enables serious risks like:
- Identity theft (nearly 1 million cases tied to payment apps annually)
- Financial scams (43% rise in phone/email phishing attacks leveraging payment details)
- Burglary (29% of break-ins recently traced back to oversharing on social media/payments)
So while Venmo makes sharing transactions fun and social, it pays to think carefully about what details you’re unintentionally exposing every time you pay someone.
How Do I Switch Venmo Back to Friends or Public?
Made payments private but change your mind or just want to temporarily share a purchase?
You can change the privacy setting anytime as needed:
- Open Venmo and go to your account settings
- Tap or select “Privacy”
- Choose “Friends” or “Public” under Future Payments
- For past payments, pick “Change to Friends” (cannot undo private)
Think of your Venmo privacy as a dial — adjust to whatever level makes you comfortable!
5 Key Ways to Stay Secure on Venmo
Restricting your payments to private is crucial. But money security on Venmo goes beyond that.
Enable these extra precautions as well:
-
Unique password: Set a strong, random password only used for Venmo. Consider a password manager app to ensure uniqueness.
-
Payment approvals: Disable auto-approvals for friends under Settings > Payments. Require approving each money request manually.
-
Alert notifications: Review security alerts about unrecognized logins or account changes immediately when received.
-
Beware scams: Exercise skepticism of any payment notice from unfamiliar users. Confirm identities manually before sending money.
-
Use a VPN: Encrypt your web traffic to prevent Venmo or cybercriminals observing your digital footprint across sites/apps.
| Privacy & Security Features by App | Venmo | Zelle | Cash App |
|---|---|---|---|
| Past/Future Payments Private | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Approve Friends’ Payments | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Fraud Monitoring | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Default Encryption | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ |
How Private is Venmo Compared to Alternatives?
Wondering how Venmo stacks up privacy-wise to competitors like Zelle and Cash App?
When configured properly in this guide, Venmo provides robust controls to completely hide all transaction data from public visibility.
Zelle transactions stay private by default with bank-level encryption — but still shares some personal information between parties directly.
Cash App takes a hands off approach with no native privacy features, relying instead on manual tools like deleting messages. This gives more anonymity but less transparency around data policies.
So Venmo strikes a nice balance — combining social sharing with easy privacy tools. But always take care to enable the correct settings, regardless of app choice.
Venmo Privacy: Key Takeaways
Congrats! You now know how to take full control over your financial privacy on Venmo.
Let’s recap the key steps:
✔️ Set future Venmo payments to private
✔️ Hide your entire past Venmo transaction history
✔️ Enable extra security precautions like alerts
✔️ Double check friends’ identities before sending money
Stay vigilant in protecting your sensitive personal and payment details. But don’t be afraid to enjoy Venmo’s convenience with these tips!
Have additional questions? Ask them below!
