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There are plenty of reasons you might need to send money overseas. Maybe you’re sending a birthday gift to a relative abroad or shopping online with an international merchant.

Venmo is a simple, fast and convenient way to make domestic payments - but unfortunately, you can’t use your Venmo account to send money overseas. 

This guide covers all you need to know about Venmo’s services and limits - as well as highlighting a smart way to send your international transfer for less with Wise.

Is Venmo an international service?

Venmo users must be physically in the US, which means this service can’t be used internationally. To open a Venmo account you’ll need to fulfil the following eligibility requirements:

• You must be in the US
• You must have a US cell phone which can send and receive text messages, and which is not already registered to another Venmo account
• You must be 18 or over

All in all, this means you can’t use Venmo to send money to friends and family who live overseas.

The good news is that there are other great specialist services out there like Wise, which are every bit as convenient as Venmo - and which do allow international transfers. More coming right up on how you can make simple, fast international payments using Wise.

How much does Venmo charge?

Whether or not you’ll pay for sending money to a friend with a Venmo account will depend on how you fund the payment.

If you choose to use your Venmo balance, linked bank account or a debit card to pay for your Venmo transfer, there will be no additional charge. However, if you fund the Venmo payment using a credit card, you’ll have to pay a 3% fee.

It’s also worth knowing that Venmo has a few other fees for connected services. For example, you may pay a charge when using your Venmo Mastercard for an out of network ATM withdrawal, or to withdraw your Venmo balance to your bank account quickly. Check out the full fee details online to avoid surprises.

Sending money abroad? Wise can help you save money on your international transfer

You love Venmo’s fast, simple service. But you need a different solution when you’re sending money abroad. And that can be Wise.

Wise is a specialist in international payments - with quick, cheap, online transfers all over the world. All Wise international payments use the mid-market exchange rate with no markups and no hidden fees. You’ll only ever pay a low, transparent charge per transaction, which can be much cheaper than using your regular bank or an alternative like PayPal.

You’ll also be able to open a Wise borderless multi-currency account to hold, send and spend money in dozens of different currencies. Switch between currencies in real time using the live mid-market exchange rate, and get a linked Mastercard debit card to make it simple to access your money wherever you are. 

See how much you can save by using Wise.

How long does Venmo take to transfer money?

If you send money to someone with an existing Venmo account it will be instantly available to them. One important impact of this is that Venmo payments to existing customers can’t be cancelled once they are initiated.

If the person you’re sending money to doesn’t already have a Venmo account, they’ll need to open one to access their funds. This means there may be a slight delay in the payment being received.

You’ll also be able to transfer funds out of Venmo and into your chosen bank account. This can be done using a standard bank transfer for free, which takes 1 - 3 business days. Alternatively you can select an instant transfer for a faster service. This should mean you get your money within just 30 minutes - but you’ll pay a charge of 1% of the transfer amount for the privilege.

How much can you send on Venmo?

When you first open your Venmo account you’ll find there is a weekly spend limit of USD299.99. That’s the total amount you can use for Venmo transactions, including sending money to other people, or buying goods and services in stores or online.

To increase this limit, you’ll need to complete the identity verification process. 

All Venmo customers need to submit personal ID information for checking to retain full access to their accounts. If you don’t do this when you first create your account you’ll get a reminder, and will need to follow the on-screen prompts to enter the identity details required. These are checked against the National Database - a process which is usually fairly swift. If your details have changed recently or can’t be verified this way, you’ll receive a notification and may need to submit documents to continue using Venmo.

Once you have completed the identity verification stage, your Venmo limits will increase to a total of USD6,999.99 per week. This total includes all payment types - paying friends, shopping in store or using your Venmo Mastercard. 

Here’s an overview of how the limits work, by payment type, week and single transaction:

Transactions	Person to person payments	Spend with merchants	Venmo Mastercard payments
Maximum weekly spend	USD4,999.99	USD6,999.99	USD6,999.99
Maximum per transaction spend	USD4,999.99	USD2,999.99	USD2,999.99

Venmo is a convenient and fast way to send money to US based friends, pay for goods and services locally, and split bills when you’re out and about. However, it’s not possible to use Venmo when you travel, to pay international bills, or to send money to people based overseas.

If you need to send a payment abroad, check out Wise as a smart, fast and convenient way to save money. You’ll be able to make a one off payment, or get yourself a free online borderless multi-currency account to hold, send and spend money all over the world. See if you can save with Wise today.