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Venmo Credit Card Review

Written by Dayana Yochim
Edited by Carolyn Kimball
Fact-checked by Andrea Coombes

March 14, 2024

Why trust us? Investor.com has no financial relationship with any of the credit card providers whose products we analyze and review. Our opinions are based solely on data and our own extensive independent research — that means unbiased guidance for consumers. Rewards cards in our cashback credit card calculator are listed in descending order according to how much money they pay out annually based on the inputs.

The Venmo Visa may be the card for you if you simply can’t be bothered with things like picking monthly bonus categories … or lifting a finger to redeem your rewards. No judgment! Just facts.

There’s nothing wrong with letting your card do all the rewards busywork. The Venmo Credit Card (issued by Synchrony Bank, by invitation only to Venmo users via the Venmo app) automatically figures out your top two eligible spending categories each month and retroactively credits 3% and 2% cash back to your Venmo account. Too bad about the snoozer 😴 1% it pays on all other purchases.

If you're looking for a hands-free bonus card, the Venmo Credit Card isn't your only option. Citi offers a similarly automated cash back card: The Citi Custom Cash Card pays 5% back on up to $500 in purchases within your biggest eligible spending category each month and 1% on all else. Plus, Citi routinely offers new cardholders a welcome bonus and 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers. Venmo only occasionally tosses in a sign-up bonus.

Although the Citi limits the bonus rate to a single spending category each month, the average household will earn more cash back per year with the Citi Custom Cash card than the Venmo Credit card ($216 vs. $185). (See more in our Citi Custom Cash vs. Venmo Credit Card comparison.)

The basics: With the Venmo Credit Card automatically earn 3% cash back on your eligible top spend category, 2% on the next, and 1% on all other eligible purchases.

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dining Dining

theater_comedy Entertainment

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monetization_on Other

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card_travel Travel

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Best for Rewards Rotators

Venmo Credit Card

Cashback Per Year

$...

Annual Fee

Welcome Bonus

N/A

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Want to compare more cards? Use our full calculator.

Venmo Credit Card pros and cons

thumb_up_off_alt Pros

Automatically pays 2% and 3% back on top eligible monthly spending categories
No cash back rewards spending caps
Rewards automatically credited to your Venmo account each statement period
No foreign transaction fees
Preapproval available

thumb_down_off_alt Cons

Application by in-app invitation only
1% default cash back rate is ... what it is
Only occasionally offers a sign-up bonus
No joint/authorized users allowed
3% fee when used for person-to-person payments (srsly?)
No 0% promotional APR on purchases or balance transfers

Venmo Credit Card cashback rewards spending categories

Category	Default Rate	Bonus Rate	Bonus Spend Cap	Bonus Spend Period (Months)
Gas	1.00%	-	-	-
Travel	1.00%	-	-	-
Dining	2.00%	-	-	-
Entertainment	1.00%	-	-	-
Pharmacy	1.00%	-	-	-
Groceries	3.00%	-	-	-
Other Purchases	1.00%	-	-	-

Note: The Venmo Credit Card pays 3% cash back on your biggest spending category each month and 2% cash back on your second biggest spending category. All other purchases earn 1%. There are eight spend categories eligible for 2% and 3% bonus rewards rates: Dining/nightlife, travel, bills and utilities, health and beauty, grocery, gas, transportation, and entertainment. The investor.com credit card rewards calculator applies the 3% rate to groceries and 2% rate to dining.

What we like

3% and 2% bonus rewards rates and no annual fee? Not bad, especially when you consider that …

You don’t have to hurt your brain to pick a bonus cash back category ahead of time: Venmo automatically reviews your monthly spending and applies bonus rewards retroactively to your highest spend categories.

Unlimited is awesome when it comes to free tacos and cash back reward spending caps. The Venmo Credit Card previously applied a $10,000 annual spending cap on purchases eligible for the highest rewards tiers. That roadblock is now gone.

Redemptions happen automatically and are transferred to your Venmo account — a plus for the less organized among us.

The unique QR code printed on your card links to your Venmo account. That makes it easy for pals to Venmo you their fair share of the cocktails tab.

Comes with Visa Zero Liability coverage, emergency cash and roadside dispatch. If bad things happen (lost/stolen card, dead battery), Visa swoops in for the save.

No foreign transaction fees makes the Venmo Card a go-to for exotic travel and purchases from foreign lands.

Travel and emergency services, Visa Concierge and other fancypants perks involving golf and wine are included — but only if you’re approved for Venmo’s Visa Signature card.

Cash back redeemable for crypto. The Venmo Credit Card allows cardholders to redeem earned rewards of $1 or more for cryptocurrency. (Here's how it works and here is the phonebook-thick fine print.) Crypto is an extremely volatile asset, Not sure whether this is a 👍 or a 👎 so we’ll just leave it here for now. Please proceed with caution. /lecture

What we don't like

A 1% default cash back rate on purchases that don’t qualify for the bonus tiers is a hard pill to swallow, especially when other cards are flinging around 1.5% default cash back rates like it’s nbd.

Purchases must fall into one of the card’s eight bonus categories to earn 3% or 2% cash back. They are: Dining/nightlife, travel, bills and utilities, health and beauty, grocery, gas, transportation, and entertainment. Otherwise — you guessed it — it’s 1% cash back city.

Rewards card maximizers beware: Because the Venmo Credit Card’s reward rates rotate automatically based on your monthly spending, getting the highest cash back rate on as much money as you can requires keeping an eye on those eligible spend categories as you shop. Pro tip: If your typical monthly purchases span many spending categories, a better choice is a 2% cash back card that pays the same rate on everything.

P2P cash back rate is just 1%. So much for rewarding brand loyalty. If your Venmo Card is your default payment method in the Venmo App, you'll earn just 1% cash back when you send money to another person (not for goods or services) using Venmo or another payment service. But, but, but … do not do that, mmkay? Person-to-person payments using the card are subject to a 3% fee. Pre 2024, Venmo/Synchrony waived the fee. Read your card disclosures carefully to see if the fee waiver period has been extended. (Tip: update your selected default payment method in the app to avoid any costly surprises.)

Speaking of costly surprises, cash advances come with a nosebleed-high APR, and will cost you a pricey 5% (or $10 minimum) of the amount you withdraw.

New cardholder perks are spotty. Catch Venmo on a good day and you may be offered a welcome bonus. We've noticed it's not consistently promoted on the app.

Requires the Venmo app to apply (and an invitation to do so, which you’ll see in the app if you’re deemed worthy).

Awkward conversation alert: No joint or authorized users allowed.

The bottom line

Is the Venmo Credit Card the best rewards card for your wallet? The answer depends entirely on your spending patterns. Let the numbers speak for themselves: Use the investor.com Cashback Credit Card Calculator to see which credit card pays back the highest rewards based on how much you spend each month.

Venmo Credit Card fine print

There’s some key bold-faced stuff about Venmo Visa Credit Card fees APRs and whatnot, that you should know. Plus a longer narrative arc detailing rewards terms and conditions.

Does the Venmo Credit Card charge an annual fee?

No, there is no annual fee for the Venmo Credit Card.

tips_and_updates Trivia time!

How common are annual fees? Roughly 17% of the consumer cash back cards we review charge an annual fee. They range from $39 to $99, with an average annual fee of $67.

Does the Venmo Credit Card offer a welcome bonus?

No, the Venmo Credit Card card does not currently offer a welcome bonus.

tips_and_updates Fun fact

More than half (55%) of the consumer cash back credit cards we track in the investor.com database offer a welcome bonus, ranging from $30 up to $300. The average sign-up bonus for new cardholders is $197, with the median being $200.

How much cash back can I earn with the Venmo Credit Card?

The average American that spends $1000 per month will earn $185.16 in cash back per year using the Venmo Credit Card. For comparison, the average annual rewards payout from the cashback credit cards in the investor.com database is $191.26, and $180 is the median.

These calculations are based on average consumer spending data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the reward payout rates from the providers we track. Of course, you’re so much more than an average data point (aka “consumer unit,” in BLS parlance). The amount you can earn in cashback rewards using the Venmo Credit Card depends entirely on your unique spending habits.

Find out exactly how much you’ll rake in with the Venmo Credit Card by tailoring the spending inputs in the calculator above.

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Methodology

The results of the investor.com Credit Card Rewards Calculator are based on the monthly spending amounts you enter and the annual dollar value of the rewards each credit card program pays per $1 spent. Credit card companies often express this payout amount as a percentage (e.g., 1.5% of every dollar spent) or on a points basis (e.g. ,1.5 points for every dollar spent). We converted all of them to a dollar amount (“Cash Back Per Year”) to make comparing offers easier.

To calculate the amount of cash back you could earn per year, we factored in:

Spend category inputs: The default dollar values for each “Spend Category” in the Best Cashback Credit Cards tool — gas, groceries, travel, restaurant, entertainment, pharmacy, other — are based on average American spending data from the Consumer Expenditure Surveys from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. We also include additional spend categories (such as streaming services, online shopping, utilities, transit, Amazon and more) to help you see which rewards cards are most closely aligned with your actual spending patterns. We encourage you to customize the monthly spend inputs for the most accurate results.
Tiered rewards rates: If a rewards credit card pays higher cashback rates on certain spending categories (also called “Bonus Rewards”), that difference is reflected in the total “Cash Back Per Year” tally.
Rewards spending caps: Some cards impose category- or time-based limits (monthly, quarterly, annually) that affect the amount of rewards you can earn. For example, a card may pay 3% cash back on groceries on up to $1,000 of spending each quarter, then revert to the base/default rewards rate until the following quarter. We accounted for bonus spending caps and timeframe in the calculations.
Default rewards rates: Purchases that exceed a spending cap are usually subject to a lower default rewards rate (e.g., 1% or 1.5%). We mathed that out too.
Annual fees: If a rewards card charges an annual fee, we deducted that amount from the “Cash Back Per Year” total to provide a true accounting of a card’s annual rewards payout.

What’s not included in the “Cash Back Per Year” total is the cash value of any sign-up/introductory bonus. We highlight any Welcome Bonus separately. While sign-up bonuses can be the most lucrative part of getting a new cashback rewards credit card, not everyone will want or be able to do what it takes to earn the extra cash. (It usually requires spending a certain amount in a specified time period after the card is activated.)

About the Editorial Team

Dayana Yochim

Dayana Yochim has been writing (articles, books, podcasts, stirring speeches) about personal finance and investing for more than two decades, focusing on bringing clarity and the occasional comedic aside to what is often a murky, humorless topic. She’s written for NerdWallet, The Motley Fool, HerMoney.com, Woman’s Day, Forbes, Newsweek and others, and been a guest expert on "Today," "Good Morning America," CNN, NPR and wherever they’ll hand her a mic.

Carolyn Kimball

Carolyn Kimball is Managing Editor for Reink Media Group and the lead editor for content on investor.com. Carolyn has more than 20 years of writing and editing experience at major media outlets including NerdWallet, the Los Angeles Times and the San Jose Mercury News. She specializes in coverage of personal financial products and services, wielding her editing skills to clarify complex (some might say befuddling) topics to help consumers make informed decisions about their money.

Andrea Coombes

Andrea Coombes has 20+ years of experience helping people reach their financial goals. Her personal finance articles have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, MarketWatch, Forbes, and other publications, and she's shared her expertise on CBS, NPR, "Marketplace," and more. She's been a financial coach and certified consumer credit counselor, and is working on becoming a Certified Financial Planner. She knows that owning pets isn't necessarily the best financial decision; her dog and two cats would argue this point.