The next time you end a group dinner or outing with “I’ll Venmo you,” make sure you follow up promptly.
Why? Because if you take more than a day or two to get that Venmo request sent, the person who owes you money might assume their debt is forgiven (or at least forgotten). Take even longer, and you run the risk of putting your friend in a financial bind by asking for money they’ve already spent on something else.
According to a survey Venmo conducted in 2019, 72% of respondents believe that Venmo requests should be sent within 24 hours. (These respondents also believe that requests should be paid within 24 hours, but if you don’t get your cash quite that quickly, 67% of those surveyed think it is appropriate to send a reminder after four days.)
The real issue here is making your friends aware of any outstanding debts as soon as possible, so they can plan their finances appropriately. If you owed someone $50 for a group outing—or even $5—you’d want to be able to include that expense in your budget, right? If you don’t keep a budget, well... you wouldn’t want to be down to the last $100 in your checking account and then get a Venmo request to pay a friend $50 for a meal you shared three weeks ago.
So send your Venmo requests within 24 hours whenever possible—because if we’re going to keep literal tabs on our interpersonal interactions, it’s better for everyone if we’re efficient about it.
Oh, and while we’re on the subject: don’t link your Venmo account to your credit card unless you want to pay a 3% fee every time you send money, and remember to make your Venmo transactions private.
