If you’re anything like me, Venmo is probably one of your best friends. It’s by far the most convenient way to exchange money to friends without having to worry about a bulky wallet or scrambling for exact change. 

The added social media-like features make the platform a sneaky place to keep tabs on people. I’ve often caught myself scrolling through the news feed just to see what my friends and family are up to. Truth is, you can learn a lot about people based on who they’re paying. 

And apparently, I’m not alone. 

Let’s start with the basics. Over 60% of people say cash apps are their main method of transferring money to others. Venmo, PayPal, and Google Pay are the most popular apps for doing that. But when asked about how they use these apps… things get interesting. 

So many people admitted to stalking their ex’s activity on Venmo. I can’t say I’m surprised about this one. Even though we know it’s bad for us, it almost feels worse to be left in the dark, completely oblivious to what our exes are up to. Plus, it doesn’t feel as bad to check up on their payment transactions as it does to go into a deep dive on someone’s pre-historic Instagram profile… right? 

42% of people say they’ve caught their significant other cheating through Venmo. Okay, this one shocked me a little. I would have predicted that a couple of people may have had this experience, but 42%? That’s over two of every five people that have had the experience of catching their partner in hot water on a payment app. I’m not justifying the cheaters in the least… but wouldn’t you at least think to turn your profile on private before paying someone you shouldn’t be paying? It’s 2020, we’re better than this. 

Speaking of privacy settings, people seem to have interesting strategies of whether or not to keep their payments public. For example, 80% of users on private mode say they “don’t want others to see what they’re transferring money for or who they’re transferring money to”. Fair enough. On the other hand, a quarter of people keep their profile on public because they “actually want others to see what they’re up to”. Two types of people I guess! 

Here’s another crazy one: 57% of millennials have received a Venmo request AFTER going on a date. Split the tab? Sure. But blindly request someone just because you didn’t have the perfect experience? Absolutely not. If you ask me, that seems like a surefire way to get ghosted. 

What do you think about all this? Do you use Venmo as a platform to check up on your friends? Will you now?