Venmo is a convenient option when it comes to transferring cash to friends and family, but it does have its downsides. The app’s refund policy is one of its biggest flaws.
Depending on the circumstances of your money transfer, you may not be able to get your money back once you send it out. Here, we’ll explain Venmo’s policies surrounding refunds, as well as how to cancel a Venmo payment.
Can You Cancel a Venmo Payment?
According to an article on Venmo’s Help page, you can’t cancel a Venmo payment that’s sent to an existing account. Since the recipient receives your money right away, Venmo can’t take that money back.
This means that if you transfer money to the wrong person, send the wrong amount, or pay someone by mistake, you may be out of luck. Venmo also doesn’t support sending payments to personal accounts in exchange for products and services.
That’s why it’s so important to only send money to people you know and trust—it’s the best way to keep your Venmo account safe!
Unfortunately, getting your money back on Venmo largely depends on the reliability of the person you sent the money to. The recipient holds the power to return your cash, and Venmo can’t force them to do anything. On its support page, Venmo clearly states that it “cannot reverse a payment at the sender’s request.”
If you want a refund, you’ll have to ask your recipient to send the exact amount of money back to you. Once (and if) you receive that money, you can transfer it back into your bank account.
However, there are some circumstances in which Venmo will have your back in terms of refunds. If you pay the wrong person, you can contact Venmo support and they’ll try their best to help. Even still, this isn’t a guarantee that you’ll get your money back.
The only scenario in which you’re guaranteed to get your money back is if you accidentally send money to a nonexistent Venmo account. In this case, you can easily cancel your payment and get your funds back.
How to Cancel a Venmo Payment to an Inactive Account
Let’s say that you want to pay your friend on Venmo, but they still have yet to sign up for an account. Instead of sending money to an existing Venmo account, you input your friend’s email address or phone number on the app instead. From there, they’ll get alerted of the payment, and they can sign up for a Venmo account to receive the money.
In the gray period between you sending a payment to your friend, and your friend officially signing up for an account, you can still cancel your Venmo payment.
To do this, open the Venmo app, and hit the hamburger icon in the top right corner of the screen. Tap Incomplete, and then select the Payments tab.
If your friend still hasn’t created a Venmo account, you’ll see your payment listed below. Tap Take back underneath the payment, and you’ll get your money back instantly.
How to Cancel a Venmo Payment in iMessage
iPhone users already have the option of using Apple Pay Cash to send money through iMessage, but it’s also possible to do the same with Venmo.
Luckily, you can get away with canceling your Venmo payment if you sent money via iMessage. If your recipient fails to accept your payment within three days, it’ll automatically get canceled.
Alternatively, Venmo also allows you to manually cancel the payment from the Venmo app. You can cancel your payment as long as your recipient hasn’t accepted it yet.
If you want to cancel your payment, simply repeat the steps outlined above: hit Incomplete > Payments, and then select Take back beneath the payment.
How to Send a Request If You’ve Paid the Wrong Person
What if you send money to the wrong person on Venmo? This may happen if you spell your friend’s username wrong and send your money to a complete stranger.
Although Venmo will immediately transfer your funds to that random person’s account, that doesn’t mean you can’t try to get it back.
The first step in trying to get a refund is to send a request to that user. Open the Venmo app, and hit Pay or Request at the bottom of the screen.
From here, enter the name of the user that you accidentally paid. In the text box, write a short note explaining that you sent the payment to the wrong person.
Enter the exact amount of money that you unintentionally sent to them, and hit Request.
If the person never gets back to you, you can try prompting them to complete the request. To do so, tap the hamburger icon, hit Incomplete > Requests. Under that payment, select Remind to notify them once again.
What If Your Payment Isn’t Refunded?
After sending countless reminders to the person you accidentally sent money to, they still haven’t returned your cash. Fortunately, Venmo may be able to step in.
To get the Venmo support team involved, open the app, and then hit the hamburger icon in the top right corner of the screen.
Tap Get help, and you’ll see two different ways to contact Venmo. You can either hit Submit a Ticket to send Venmo an email, or you can tap Contact Us > Chat with Us to hop on a live chat with a representative.
Before you reach out, make sure you have the username of the person you accidentally paid, the payment amount, and the payment date at the ready.
How to Decline a Venmo Payment
Venmo doesn’t offer a way to decline payments. Once someone sends you money, you have no choice but to accept it. The only way to get around this is to transfer the money back to the person who sent it to you.
Use Venmo Wisely
Venmo’s refund policy isn’t the most appealing. So if you’re going to use Venmo, it’s best to only use it to send cash to people you know well. Otherwise, it’ll be a lot more difficult to get your money back (if needed).
Venmo isn’t the only app you can use to send money to friends. If you aren’t fond of Venmo, you can always try an alternative money-sending app instead.
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