Venmo: Exchange money with the people you trust

I can’t work out if this is a gimmicky thing, with the novelty probably wearing off pretty quickly, or just an inevitable addition upholding the mantra "you can do everything on your phone these days".

It’s annoying enough sitting at a restaurant table watching your friends constantly texting, and let’s face it we’ve probably all been guilty of that from time to time. With this app though, the phones will be straight back on the table as soon as the bill arrives.

Billed as being an easy and fun way for friends to pay one another, it should I suppose, be seen as just that although it could have commercial possibilities going forward.

The pathway to having all this fun starts with making sure all your friends are actually signed up to Venmo. It’s free and you’ll have to attach the details of a debit or credit card to your application and link it to your phone number. That’s about it really, you can now go for a pizza with your pals, pick up the tab and then ask them all to get texting Venmo with your details and the amount of the split.

Where does the money go you may ask? Well quite. At the time of setting up your Venmo account you will also set up a "Direct Deposit" account with them. All payments made to you go into that and after two weeks it gets transferred to your bank account.

Well call me a cynic but I don’t think many people would consider giving their friends a couple of week’s credit just for a beer and a couple of slices of Margarita so why do it this way?

The site is keen to point out that it is not making a margin by having your money on deposit for two weeks but being a free application it can’t but help. You do have the option to cash out manually if you prefer (whatever that entails) and I think that’s probably the best option other than removing a couple of banknotes from everyone’s wallet!

Conclusion
Good fun for kids perhaps or if you genuinely have left your wallet at home.