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Venmo significantly predates Square Cash, and once you get used to using a particular app for a task switching is a burden, especially for something like this w
by harryh 9y ago
Venmo significantly predates Square Cash, and once you get used to using a particular app for a task switching is a burden, especially for something like this with a powerful network effect.
- thaumasiotes 9y agoAs far as I remember, Paypal significantly predates Venmo. What happened there?
- eachro 9y agoVenmo got its initial traction through college students. I doubt most college students had a paypal account to begin with.
- niketdesai 9y agoThe Paypal app was late, and didn't really support the seamless Venmo experience, because initially Venmo allowed you to sign up with a CC and ate the fees. Later, with enough momentum and usage, they moved people to direct deposit by adding the CC fee and giving some other incentives. The company was acquired, along with BrainTree, by Paypal to bolster their mobile and API-driven payments in the present age.
- objclxt 9y agoVenmo is more social than PayPal, and the brand is cooler. Given PayPal own Venmo I think they realize the value of this.
- bb611 9y agoPaypal was late, inconvenient, and (probably most damning) the brand became closely associated with scary things in the minds of many - freezing accounts, not giving funds to their perceived "rightful" owners, general legal troubles that cast doubt on whether you'd get your money. It didn't really matter that those mostly happened to people moving 5-6 figures, most of the millenials I know actively avoid paypal as a result.