Why Does Venmo Need My SSN?

Well, Venmo does not ask everyone for their Social Security Number (SSN), but it does ask some people for the SSN because many already provide their details such as the bank account number, debit, and credit card information.

Venmo collects your SSN to confirm your identity. This is to give you a better and more secure customer experience, and it is necessary for the transactions you will make. 

Venmo asks for your SSN Number when you make suspicious transactions that have not been made before or do not match your transaction pattern.

The suspicious transaction methods include the following: 

  • Sending more than $300 within a week. 
  • Transaction of more than $1000 within a week. 
  • Creating a joint or group account. 
  • Receiving or sending money in an unusual pattern. 

A user can even verify their Venmo account by themselves with the help of a one-time security check by following the further steps. 

  • Open your mobile phone. 
  • Open the Venmo application. 
  • Go to the setting and scroll at the bottom. 
  • Find the ‘identity verification’ option at the bottom. 
  • Follow the procedure.

What is Venmo? 

Venmo is a money transfer business controlled and regulated by the United States Treasury Department. The United States Treasury Department itself regulates all the transactions.  

The department needs to be well aware of the transactions done through Venmo. They know who is sending money to whom and how much is getting into the transaction.  

To avoid the misconduct of the money, they request for the verification of the person by the help of SSN for a specific time and when a user opens a Venmo financial services account. 

What to do if Someone Asks for My SSN?

A person needs to be smart enough to decide whether they should provide their SSN to any application or person when asked. 

You should guess if it is okay to give the SSN. The best thought which can come to your mind is to think smart and ask yourself if it is right or wrong? Mostly the theft chances are low but never zero. Thereby, you need to be aware of all theft situations. 

However, Venmo is owned by PayPal, and both transaction businesses are legit and free to use. These applications do ask for SSNs whenever they want to verify the user. 

It is completely safe to provide the SSN on Venmo but do not submit any link regarding Venmo because Venmo never does this.

Also, never install any other version of the Venmo applications such as mods; otherwise, it will get you in trouble. 

Why is it Safe to Use Venmo?

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) states that a money service can be helpful for currency dealing, currency exchange, and money transmitting purposes. 

The above-given terms of the money service business are the same for Venmo as it is a money service business by PayPal. The concept is simple: someone sends money to another person, and some additional transaction fees are deducted from the bank account or the credit cards. 

Venmo keeps all the transactions and their history within itself. You can also see your transaction history with the exact time and other details. These details cannot be changed or swapped with other details in any case. Venmo is sure that transaction history data will remain the same even in any kind of technical error from the user’s bank or application. 

As we discussed earlier, the SSN is the associated information of the user. You can send or receive the specific amount to or from a person or a group/organization with this information.  

But nowadays, people are not bothered about sending their SSN. And sometimes, they don’t even consider thinking twice about the Involvement of their SSN. 

Venmo has strict user policies, and these strict policies also involve obeying rules and regulations which every user must follow.  Otherwise, this financial data of yours can be used against you if Venmo finds any illicit purpose. 

Illicit purpose involves:

  • Sending black money or converting it into white money. 
  • Buying any illegal or banned products or services. 

If any of the purposes are not involved in your transaction, you are good to use Venmo, and Venmo, too, will be happy to provide you their services. 

Why Does Venmo Ask for my SSN?

If Venmo asks for your SSN, they have many reasons, but most protect the user from fraud and misconduct. 

Venmo will look back in your history of transactions and will determine if you’re legit or not. To make sure you are legit, confirm with the help of the source request. 

If the transitions are being made from any type of anonymous mail or the mail is untraceable by Venmo, the action will be taken, which could result in a fraudulent request. It is safe not to accept any transaction request from a fraudulent mail account. 

In the terms and conditions of Venmo and PayPal, they have mentioned the risk of the breach through the application. 

You are suggested to read all the pros and cons of using Venmo and PayPal before using both applications. There are also some terms for keeping your account active.  

What if a User Does not Wish to Provide SSN for Venmo? 

There are other ways of identifying the user, but they are not as fast as SSN, and they do not protect you from any fraud or misconduct.

The best option is to provide the SSN for being eligible for the fraud-protect for your user account. 

The other documents which can be used for identification are:

  • Tax Id number
  • US passport 
  • Driving license
  • Tribal Id card
  • DHS card

By using the above methods, you will be limited to a certain amount of transactions per day. 

Final Thoughts

Venmo is safe to use for financial transactions, but it is a wise choice to look and check twice where you are providing your SSN. The best way to avoid theft is to use authentic mail for the transactions and always determine where or to whom you are sending money.

Mostly, there are no chances of misconduct on Venmo, but always check your details and do transactions correctly by providing the right information. If you do not wish to provide SSN, choose other options given above.

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I have always been a shopaholic. A lot of times my questions went unanswered when it came to retail questions, so I started Talk Radio News. - Caitlyn Johnson

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