Venmo adds instant transfers to counter rivals

PayPal has been working to expand Venmo’s audience beyond millennials for more than a year, a strategy that it hopes to further with instant transfers.

Bloomberg News

For a fee of $0.25, users can deposit funds into their debit cards in up to 30 minutes, rather than current wait time of up to three days. The slower, free option will still exist for consumers willing to wait. Instant transfers will work with Visa and Mastercard debit cards and should be available over the next few days.

Venmo’s parent company, PayPal, has made several changes to the P-to-P service to expand popularity beyond its core millennial audience, particularly given Venmo’s impact on PayPal’s overall business performance.

PayPal has made Venmo available for retail payments and issuing a traditional payment card.

The moves also come as Venmo faces more competition from the bank-led Zelle transfer app and Apple’s new P-to-P app.