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Venmo is irrelevant in (all?) most of the markets where Whatsapp is utterly dominating. In February it was reported that the platform has 2 billion active users

Venmo is irrelevant in (all?) most of the markets where Whatsapp is utterly dominating. In February it was reported that the platform has 2 billion active users.

tinyhouse 6y ago
Right. But all these countries have a popular payment app similar to Venmo that all people use. For example, in Israel where whatsapp is as popular as in Brazil, there's an app called Bit everyone is using, where you can send money using phone numbers. I'm sure India and Brazil have similar apps.
- Max_Mustermann 6y ago
  I seriously doubt that, I've lived in 3 of the countries (fairly large ones) where WhatsApp is THE communications and in all of those, at least to my knowledge, most (mostly young) people send money electronically through banks, sometimes more modern digital versions like Nubank in Brazil, but there's no all-encompassing default solution.
  - joeberon 6y ago
    But in the US banking is very archaic and so bank transfers are not instant and I think even involve a fee unlike in most countries
- joeberon 6y ago
  FYI there is no similar equivalent here in the UK, so I wouldn't assume...
  - JoeMalt 6y ago
    Unlike a lot of countries, the UK has free and near-instant bank transfers which seem to be a de facto standard for things like splitting bills with friends. Incidentally I tried to use Venmo while in the US, but the app was geo-blocked so I couldn’t install it with a Google Play account set to the UK.
    - filleduchaos 6y ago
      > Unlike a lot of countries Interestingly, you might actually have that a bit backwards - North America is the only place I know of that doesn't have free (or with a fee of a few cents), near-instant bank transfers. It actually surprised me how backwards the banking system seemed the first time I was in the US (coming from West Africa).
      - frosted-flakes 6y ago
        Canada does. See my other comment about it: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23558111 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23558111
- kroltan 6y ago
  There is no equivalent in Brazil yet, not with any significant market share. The closest thing we have is Nubank, which is a mobile-only bank, but even that is not nearly as universal as WhatsApp. Essentially everyone with a phone number uses WhatsApp, but payment apps so far have been restricted mostly to the 20s ~ early 30s audiences in terms of adoption.
  - jalbertoni 6y ago
    I might be in a bit of a bubble here (Porto Alegre), but all my friends except for one who's a tinfoil-on-head privacy nut use PicPay. Even more hipster-y restaurants/bars are starting to accept payment over it. Anecdotal evidence, I know, but lacking proper studies...
    - kroltan 6y ago
      Here in Florianópolis PicPay is absolutely unheard of. I know it by name but have never used or heard about anyone using it.
      - rescbr 6y ago
        In São Paulo it seems PicPay is more popular with younger people, as you can open an account being 16 or older. Nubank you have to be at least 18, probably as it mainly is a credit card. I don’t have an account, nor have seen somebody using it, though. I’m totally outside their target group.
- sumang 6y ago
  In India there are multiple apps like GooglePay, Phonepe, Paytm. All these are popular and widely used, Whatsapp was trying to get into payments in India for a long time but unable to launch because of regulations. UPI payments are very popular in India and GooglePay really did a good job in getting the market share here in India.

Venmo is irrelevant in (all?) most of the markets where Whatsapp is utterly dominating. In February it was reported that the platform has 2 billion active users.

tinyhouse 6y ago

Right. But all these countries have a popular payment app similar to Venmo that all people use. For example, in Israel where whatsapp is as popular as in Brazil, there's an app called Bit everyone is using, where you can send money using phone numbers. I'm sure India and Brazil have similar apps.

Max_Mustermann 6y ago
I seriously doubt that, I've lived in 3 of the countries (fairly large ones) where WhatsApp is THE communications and in all of those, at least to my knowledge, most (mostly young) people send money electronically through banks, sometimes more modern digital versions like Nubank in Brazil, but there's no all-encompassing default solution.
- joeberon 6y ago
  But in the US banking is very archaic and so bank transfers are not instant and I think even involve a fee unlike in most countries
joeberon 6y ago
FYI there is no similar equivalent here in the UK, so I wouldn't assume...
- JoeMalt 6y ago
  Unlike a lot of countries, the UK has free and near-instant bank transfers which seem to be a de facto standard for things like splitting bills with friends. Incidentally I tried to use Venmo while in the US, but the app was geo-blocked so I couldn’t install it with a Google Play account set to the UK.
  - filleduchaos 6y ago
    > Unlike a lot of countries Interestingly, you might actually have that a bit backwards - North America is the only place I know of that doesn't have free (or with a fee of a few cents), near-instant bank transfers. It actually surprised me how backwards the banking system seemed the first time I was in the US (coming from West Africa).
    - frosted-flakes 6y ago
      Canada does. See my other comment about it: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23558111 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23558111
kroltan 6y ago
There is no equivalent in Brazil yet, not with any significant market share. The closest thing we have is Nubank, which is a mobile-only bank, but even that is not nearly as universal as WhatsApp. Essentially everyone with a phone number uses WhatsApp, but payment apps so far have been restricted mostly to the 20s ~ early 30s audiences in terms of adoption.
- jalbertoni 6y ago
  I might be in a bit of a bubble here (Porto Alegre), but all my friends except for one who's a tinfoil-on-head privacy nut use PicPay. Even more hipster-y restaurants/bars are starting to accept payment over it. Anecdotal evidence, I know, but lacking proper studies...
  - kroltan 6y ago
    Here in Florianópolis PicPay is absolutely unheard of. I know it by name but have never used or heard about anyone using it.
    - rescbr 6y ago
      In São Paulo it seems PicPay is more popular with younger people, as you can open an account being 16 or older. Nubank you have to be at least 18, probably as it mainly is a credit card. I don’t have an account, nor have seen somebody using it, though. I’m totally outside their target group.
sumang 6y ago
In India there are multiple apps like GooglePay, Phonepe, Paytm. All these are popular and widely used, Whatsapp was trying to get into payments in India for a long time but unable to launch because of regulations. UPI payments are very popular in India and GooglePay really did a good job in getting the market share here in India.