How Many People Use Venmo in 2024? Key Statistics on the Leading Payment App

Venmo has become one of the most popular payment apps, especially among millennials and Gen Z. With over 83 million active accounts, Venmo processed a whopping $159 billion in payments in 2021.

In this in-depth guide, we’ll dive into the latest statistics and trends to answer: how many people use Venmo today? We’ll uncover key demographics, analyze growth trajectories, discuss privacy concerns, and make projections for where Venmo is headed next. Let’s get started!

Venmo‘s Meteoric Growth Since Launch

Since launching in 2009, Venmo has seen astronomical growth in its user base and payment volume:

• Venmo launched publicly in 2012 with just 40,000 users.
• By 2016, Venmo hit 10 million active accounts.
• Venmo‘s user base doubled in 2 years to reach over 40 million users by the end of 2019.
• During pandemic lockdowns in 2020, sign-ups spiked with 10 million new users joining in just 2 quarters.
• By 2021, total active Venmo users ballooned to over 83 million, more than doubling in 2 years.
• Venmo’s payment volume tripled from $51 billion in 2018 to $159 billion in 2021.

This explosive growth demonstrates just how quickly Venmo has emerged as a leader in peer-to-peer payments in less than a decade since launch. What‘s behind this phenomenal adoption?

Who‘s Using Venmo? Key Demographics

Venmo‘s convenience, flexibility, and social features have made it hugely popular with millennials and Gen Z:

Age

• 18-24 years old: Over 7 million users
• 25-34 years old: The most users of any age group, over 15 million
• 35-44 years old: Around 5 million users
• 45-54 years old: Approximately 2.5 million users
• 55+ years old: Around 2 million users

Key Insight: Venmo’s outsized popularity with 18-34 year olds has been the #1 driver of its growth. Over 40% of users are millennials.

Gender

• Male users: 49%
• Female users: 51%

Key Insight: Near equal usage among males and females, indicating mainstream appeal.

Location

• United States: Almost 30% of users
• New York: Over 7 million users
• California: Around 6 million users
• Texas: Approximately 4 million users
• Florida, Illinois, Pennsylvania: 2-3 million users each

Key Insight: While strongest in coastal cities initially, Venmo has expanded nationwide.

Income

• Under $50k: 24% of users
• $50k – $100k: 36% of users
• Over $100k: 40% of users

Key Insight: Higher earners drive a disproportionate share of transactions, especially over $100k.

quarterly by quarterly Venmo User Growth Trends

Beyond total users, examining Venmo’s quarterly growth rates provides deeper insight into its trajectory:

Quarter – New Users – Growth %

• Q1 2019 – 2 million – 14%
• Q2 2019 – 2.8 million – 18%
• Q3 2019 – 3.3 million – 20%
• Q4 2019 – 3.5 million – 21%
• Q1 2020 – 4 million – 15% (pre-COVID)
• Q2 2020 – 6 million – 30% (COVID onset)
• Q3 2020 – 9 million – 45% (lockdown peak)
• Q4 2020 – 10 million – 55% (holiday spike)
• Q1 2021 – 12 million – 55%
• Q2 2021 – 13 million – 46%
• Q3 2021 – 15 million – 33%
• Q4 2021 – 16 million – 25%

Key Insights

• COVID fueled massive user spikes in 2020 of 45-55% quarterly.
• Growth slowed but remained strong at 25-46% quarterly in 2021.
• Continued rapid growth expected, potentially reaching over 100 million users in 2022.

Projections
Based on this data, projections indicate Venmo could:

• Hit 100 million users by mid-late 2022
• Reach 175-200 million users by 2025

Incredible ongoing growth is expected, especially among the 18-34 year old demographic. International expansion would also boost user figures.

Venmo Usage Habits: Monthly Transactions and Spending

Analyzing monthly Venmo usage provides further insights:

• Median monthly transactions per user: 6
• Average monthly spending per user: $373
• Top spending categories:
  • Food, bars, nightlife: 58% of users
  • Shopping/apparel: 45%
  • Utilities: 42%
  • Rent: 40%

Key Insights

• Social, discretionary categories like food and nightlife dominate spending.
• But a sizable share also use Venmo for bills, rent, utilities.
• Higher volume users skew the averages; median monthly usage is just 6 transactions.

This shows Venmo has become a routine daily spending method for most users, though not at extremely high transaction volumes on average. Power users likely account for the bulk of total payment volume.

Comparing Demographics Across Payment Apps

How does Venmo’s usage compare to rival payment apps like PayPal, Cash App or Apple Pay?

App – Under 35 – Over 35

• Venmo – 40% – 15%
• Cash App – 37% – 13%
• Apple Pay – 29% – 15%
• PayPal – 25% – 19%

Key Insight: Venmo and Cash App far outpace PayPal and Apple Pay in adoption among millennials and Gen Z.

However, PayPal and Apple Pay maintain a stronger hold among older users. This highlights Venmo’s industry lead in the coveted under 35 demographic that is predictive of future growth.

Pros and Cons of Using Venmo

Now that we’ve explored who uses Venmo and how much, let’s examine some of the key advantages and drawbacks:

Pros

• Free bank transfers and Venmo balance use
• Super quick and easy sign-up and payments
• Split bills seamlessly with friends; go “halfies”
• Discover friends on Venmo‘s social newsfeed
• Make purchases at merchants that accept Venmo
• Protected by encryption and multi-factor sign-ins

Cons

• Payments are public by default
• Scams and fraudulent payments do occur
• Can‘t cancel mistaken payments
• Need ID verification to lift transfer limits
• Lack of customer service and disputes department
• Must link bank account; no guest checkout

Key Insight: While fast and convenient for legit users, public visibility and scams are top concerns. Always utilize privacy settings and be vigilant.

The ubiquity and social nature of Venmo also creates risks around privacy and security that users should weigh carefully. Still, the pros likely outweigh the cons for most.

Business Model and Revenue Streams

To understand Venmo‘s development strategy for the platform, it helps to look at how the app actually makes money:

• Interchange fees from debit/credit card payments
• Merchant fees from retailers that accept Venmo
• Instant transfer fees (1% of transfer amount)
• Venmo Mastercard debit card transaction fees
• Interest earned on balance holding funds
• Potential future monetization of transaction data

Key Insight: The vast majority of Venmo‘s revenue comes from interchange, instant transfer, and interest fees. There are lots of opportunities to further monetize in the future.

Venmo‘s parent company PayPal likely sees even greater potential value in all the transaction data Venmo is accumulating. This data holds huge opportunities for marketing partnerships and analytics down the road.

Future Outlook and Predictions for Venmo

Synthesizing all we know about Venmo’s growth, demographics, and business model, we can make educated predictions about where the app is headed in the future:

• Continuing rapid user growth, potentially hitting 200 million users by 2025.
• More mainstream merchant acceptance, becoming payment option at major retailers.
• International expansion launching cross-border payments in Europe/Asia.
• More financial services like savings accounts, investing, cryptocurrency.
• Monetizing data analytics for marketing/fraud protection purposes.
• Increased competition from major banks launching rival peer-to-peer apps.
• Potential identity theft and privacy issues could increase with growth.

Key Insight: Still lots of room for Venmo to expand services, data monetization, and global reach to fuel more huge growth in the decade ahead.

The Takeaway: Venmo is Here to Stay

In just over 10 years, Venmo has reshaped how millions of Americans – especially millennials and Gen Z – exchange money with friends and make purchases.

With no slowdown in sight, Venmo‘s user base could quadruple again in the next few years. While you need to be cautious of privacy settings and potential scams, Venmo offers an incredibly convenient platform for quick, social peer-to-peer payments.

Have you used Venmo? How do you feel about its privacy controls and social newsfeed? Do you think it‘s mostly a fad, or here to stay? Share your thoughts in the comments!