The Venmo Debit Card: Is It Right For You? Bankrate Caret RightMain Menu Mortgage Mortgages Financing a home purchase Refinancing your existing loan Finding the right lender Additional Resources Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Bank Banking Compare Accounts Use calculators Get advice Bank reviews Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Credit Card Credit cards Compare by category Compare by credit needed Compare by issuer Get advice Looking for the perfect credit card? Narrow your search with CardMatch Caret RightMain Menu Loan Loans Personal Loans Student Loans Auto Loans Loan calculators Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Invest Investing Best of Brokerages and robo-advisors Learn the basics Additional resources Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Home Equity Home equity Get the best rates Lender reviews Use calculators Knowledge base Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Loan Home Improvement Real estate Selling a home Buying a home Finding the right agent Additional resources Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Insurance Insurance Car insurance Homeowners insurance Other insurance Company reviews Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Retirement Retirement Retirement plans & accounts Learn the basics Retirement calculators Additional resources Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Advertiser Disclosure

Advertiser Disclosure

We are an independent, advertising-supported comparison service. Our goal is to help you make smarter financial decisions by providing you with interactive tools and financial calculators, publishing original and objective content, by enabling you to conduct research and compare information for free - so that you can make financial decisions with confidence.
Bankrate has partnerships with issuers including, but not limited to, American Express, Bank of America, Capital One, Chase, Citi and Discover. SHARE: Bloomberg/Getty Images March 09, 2022 Checkmark Bankrate logo How is this page expert verified? At Bankrate, we take the accuracy of our content seriously. "Expert verified" means that our Financial Review Board thoroughly evaluated the article for accuracy and clarity. The Review Board comprises a panel of financial experts whose objective is to ensure that our content is always objective and balanced. Their reviews hold us accountable for publishing high-quality and trustworthy content. Claire Dickey is a product editor for Bankrate, and . Before joining Bankrate, Claire worked as a copywriter for brands within the telecommunications industry as well as a hybrid marketing and content writer. Liz Bingler is an Associate Editor for CreditCards.com and Bankrate, where she focuses on product news and reviews. As an editor, her goal is to produce content that will help people to make informed financial decisions. Bankrate logo

The Bankrate promise

At Bankrate we strive to help you make smarter financial decisions. While we adhere to strict editorial integrity, this post may contain references to products from our partners. Here's an explanation for how we make money. The content on this page is accurate as of the posting date; however, some of the offers mentioned may have expired. Terms apply to the offers listed on this page. Any opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any card issuer. Bankrate logo

The Bankrate promise

At Bankrate, we have a mission to demystify the credit cards industry — regardless or where you are in your journey — and make it one you can navigate with confidence. Our team is full of a diverse range of experts from credit card pros to data analysts and, most importantly, people who shop for credit cards just like you. With this combination of expertise and perspectives, we keep close tabs on the credit card industry year-round to: Meet you wherever you are in your credit card journey to guide your information search and help you understand your options. Consistently provide up-to-date, reliable market information so you're well-equipped to make confident decisions. Reduce industry jargon so you get the clearest form of information possible, so you can make the right decision for you. At Bankrate, we focus on the points consumers care about most: rewards, welcome offers and bonuses, APR, and overall customer experience. Any issuers discussed on our site are vetted based on the value they provide to consumers at each of these levels. At each step of the way, we fact-check ourselves to prioritize accuracy so we can continue to be here for your every next. Bankrate logo

Editorial integrity

Bankrate follows a strict , so you can trust that we’re putting your interests first. Our award-winning editors and reporters create honest and accurate content to help you make the right financial decisions.

Key Principles

We value your trust. Our mission is to provide readers with accurate and unbiased information, and we have editorial standards in place to ensure that happens. Our editors and reporters thoroughly fact-check editorial content to ensure the information you’re reading is accurate. We maintain a firewall between our advertisers and our editorial team. Our editorial team does not receive direct compensation from our advertisers.

Editorial Independence

Bankrate’s editorial team writes on behalf of YOU – the reader. Our goal is to give you the best advice to help you make smart personal finance decisions. We follow strict guidelines to ensure that our editorial content is not influenced by advertisers. Our editorial team receives no direct compensation from advertisers, and our content is thoroughly fact-checked to ensure accuracy. So, whether you’re reading an article or a review, you can trust that you’re getting credible and dependable information. Bankrate logo

How we make money

You have money questions. Bankrate has answers. Our experts have been helping you master your money for over four decades. We continually strive to provide consumers with the expert advice and tools needed to succeed throughout life’s financial journey. Bankrate follows a strict , so you can trust that our content is honest and accurate. Our award-winning editors and reporters create honest and accurate content to help you make the right financial decisions. The content created by our editorial staff is objective, factual, and not influenced by our advertisers. We’re transparent about how we are able to bring quality content, competitive rates, and useful tools to you by explaining how we make money. Bankrate.com is an independent, advertising-supported publisher and comparison service. We are compensated in exchange for placement of sponsored products and, services, or by you clicking on certain links posted on our site. Therefore, this compensation may impact how, where and in what order products appear within listing categories. Other factors, such as our own proprietary website rules and whether a product is offered in your area or at your self-selected credit score range can also impact how and where products appear on this site. While we strive to provide a wide range offers, Bankrate does not include information about every financial or credit product or service. Since its 2009 launch, Venmo has become one of the in the United States. The app—which lets users pay one another with linked credit cards, debit cards, bank accounts or account balances—began offering a Mastercard debit card in 2018, now known as the Venmo Debit Card. Unlike traditional debit cards that pull from a linked bank account, the purchases you make with the Venmo Debit Card are charged to your account balance (though you still need a linked bank account to transfer funds into said balance). Issued by The Bancorp Bank, the Venmo Debit Card allows you to withdraw cash from ATMs, and there’s no charge for doing so as long as you withdraw at a in the U.S. ATMs outside of the MoneyPass network charge $2.50 per withdrawal.

Get cash back with Venmo Rewards

, the official rewards program for the Venmo Debit Card, launched in October 2019. With the help of Dosh—the third-party cash back platform that manages Venmo Rewards—the Venmo Debit Card offers instant cash back rewards for making purchases with the card at participating merchants. Whenever you make an eligible purchase, your rewards are automatically deposited into your Venmo balance. Merchant offers are available for a limited time, and they can be viewed within the Venmo app. Unfortunately, there’s no way to see these offers unless you have the Venmo Debit Card. Cash back amounts vary per offer, and there may be limits on the amount of cash back you can earn. In the past, Venmo has offered 5 percent cash back for purchases at places like Target, Wendy’s and Sephora.

Venmo Debit Card security protections

Under the Mastercard network, purchases made with the Venmo Debit Card are covered by zero liability protection, meaning you won’t be held accountable for unauthorized transactions. With Mastercard Global Service, you can report a lost or stolen card and receive an emergency replacement. Mastercard ID Theft Protection monitors your credit file and alerts you to suspicious activity as long as you activate it. And if you lose your card and then find it, you also have the ability to disable or enable your card within the Venmo app. Venmo offers its own set of protections as well. Under the Protected Purchase Program, purchases made at authorized merchants using the Venmo Debit Card are covered in full (plus shipping costs) in certain circumstances, including if you did not receive the item or if the item does not match its original description.

How the Venmo Debit Card compares with its competitors

The Venmo Debit Card isn’t the only debit card to offer its users rewards for their spending. For example, there’s the , which earns 1 percent cash back on up to $3,000 in purchases each month. Then there’s Venmo’s competitor, (formerly Square Cash), which released a Visa debit card, Cash Card, in May 2017—just over a year before Venmo did. Cash App’s Cash Card is tied to users’ balances and also offers a rewards program. In the past, Cash Card’s rewards were unofficially reported to include 10 percent cash back at Whole Foods, Burger King, Petco and more. Both Venmo and Cash App set limits on card usage. The Venmo Debit Card has a daily purchase limit of $3,000, which is significantly lower than the Cash Card’s $7,000 limit per day. Other terms apply.

Is the Venmo Debit Card worth it

If your main goal is to earn rewards for your purchases, a . Most rewards credit card options, including ones with no annual fees, provide up-front information on how and where you can earn rewards, meaning that you can choose a card based on how and where you spend. It should be noted that the Venmo Debit Card can’t be used outside of the United States or for online purchases with international merchants. Those who are interested in the Venmo Debit Card, but travel abroad often, should be sure to have alternative payment options available. Even if you’re a frequent user of Venmo, the rewards potential of the Venmo Debit Card isn’t much compared to that of a rewards credit card. It should be noted that , a co-branded credit card with Synchrony Bank, which comes with no annual fee and offers a higher cash back rate on select category purchases. With the Venmo Credit Card you’ll earn 3 percent cash back on your top eligible spending category, 2 percent back on your next top eligible spending category and 1 percent back on all other purchases. The card also includes a “purchase crypto” feature, which allows you to purchase cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin with your cash back—an option that may be appealing to those who are new to cryptocurrency.

The bottom line

If you’d rather not use a credit card for your spending, and if you’d prefer using Venmo over a bank debit card, then the Venmo Debit Card may be a good option for you. Its integration with the Venmo app is convenient, it still offers the chance to earn cash back and there are more than 37,000 MoneyPass locations in the U.S. that you can use for withdrawing funds. However, keep in mind that you can’t use the Venmo Debit Card outside of the U.S. or for purchases with international merchants. Lastly, if you want to earn more rewards on your purchases, you may want to consider a instead. SHARE: Claire Dickey is a product editor for Bankrate, and . Before joining Bankrate, Claire worked as a copywriter for brands within the telecommunications industry as well as a hybrid marketing and content writer. Liz Bingler is an Associate Editor for CreditCards.com and Bankrate, where she focuses on product news and reviews. As an editor, her goal is to produce content that will help people to make informed financial decisions.

Related Articles