To use a Venmo balance, you must verify your identity

Verification requires details including your name, address, birth date and SSN or taxpayer ID; until then, received money can only be withdrawn to a linked bank account or debit card.

This requirement concerns using money received in a Venmo balance; the agreement says a balance is not needed to send money or buy something using linked payment methods.

New Venmo accounts may make payments public by default

Payments from new accounts may be public by default, so other users may see them unless you change the privacy setting.

The stated public-by-default setting applies to payments made by new Venmo accounts; the agreement says settings can be changed.

If you get Venmo Mastercard, Bancorp shares data for marketing

The Bancorp notice says it shares personal information to market its products to you, and says you cannot limit that sharing.

This finding applies only if you use the optional Venmo Mastercard issued by The Bancorp Bank.

Posting content grants Venmo a broad, lasting reuse license

You keep ownership, but posting content gives Venmo, its affiliates and users a perpetual, irrevocable, transferable license to reuse it without paying you.

This applies when you provide, upload, submit or send content to Venmo, or post it using Venmo services.

The terms let Venmo end access at any time for any reason

The terms reserve the right to suspend or end your access for any reason and on notice; upon termination, they provide for payment only of unrestricted funds held for you.

Risk-based transaction holds may last up to 180 days

If Venmo considers you or a transaction high-risk, it may place a hold; the terms allow risk-based holds to remain for up to 180 days.

This concerns a risk-based hold on a transaction; the agreement describes it as a possibility, not a routine practice.

The terms require individual arbitration and waive class actions

Most disputes must be handled individually rather than through a jury trial or class case; you can opt out of arbitration within 30 days, but class and jury waivers remain.

The arbitration opt-out does not remove the class-action waiver or jury-trial waiver.

Most payments may be impossible to cancel once received

Most Venmo payments reach the recipient within seconds, so you may be unable to cancel a mistaken payment or recover the money.

This limit concerns payments already received by the recipient; pending payments processed as e-checks have a separate cancellation process through your financial institution.

Venmo balances may not have FDIC insurance

Some Venmo funds are unsecured claims against PayPal, which is not FDIC-insured; eligible funds held at partner banks may qualify for pass-through insurance under conditions.

The agreement describes certain funds placed at Program Banks as potentially eligible for pass-through insurance, subject to conditions; that insurance covers a bank failure, not a PayPal failure.

Some eligible purchases may qualify for Purchase Protection

Certain authorized-merchant purchases and payments marked for goods and services may qualify for a refund, but ordinary personal payments are excluded.

Eligibility requires, among other things, a good-standing account, an attempt to resolve the issue with the seller, timely responses to information requests and a dispute filed within 180 days.