Does Venmo Pool Money?

Do you have an event coming up which requires your friends/family/coworkers to all pitch in some money? Maybe your favorite coworker is leaving, and you want everyone in the office to go in on a group present to really show your appreciation and send them off in the best way possible.

If you’re the person who is on the hook for the collection, then we’re sure you’ve already got a million and one things to consider. From deciding on the best gift, organizing the date for the event, collecting personal messages from everyone and, crucially, the collecting of the money to make this magical thing happen.

The problem is, the collection of money often becomes one of the most difficult parts of this journey. As you reach for your phone and start looking at which apps could make your life easier, let’s take a look at one of the most popular peer-to-peer digital payment apps, Venmo, and whether they support money pools.

‍Does Venmo Pool Money?‍

To get straight to the point, the answer to this question is no. Venmo has acquired millions of users in recent years, but they have always served these users in a very simple peer-to-peer fashion. 

What does this mean? To put it simply, the platform has been built with the focus on providing a seamless way to transfer money from one individual to another individual. With this focus at the forefront of their product, Venmo hasn’t built out the functionality to make it easy for people pooling money as a group.

Venmo did briefly dip their toes in the water in the past with a beta version of ‘Group Accounts’, but this was short-lived and there is no option for new sign-ups. In the same way PayPal Money Pools operated, it also required each individual to be a Venmo account holder to be part of a ‘group’. 

If you’re like us, we don’t have criteria for our friendship group that states ‘you must all be Venmo account holders’ and the likelihood of your entire friend/family/coworker circle all using Venmo out of the numerous options available is slim.

But why does any of this matter? Venmo being peer-to-peer still allows you to collect money from people, right? Let’s take a look at this a bit more.

‍How does a money pool help me?‍

One of the most important distinctions between platforms that are built for group collections compared to peer-to-peer platforms like Venmo is the ability to ring-fence the money of your group.

Let’s think of a real life example. Lisa has been with your company for 25 years and has decided to move onto a new challenge. You’re responsible for organizing a group gift from all of her coworkers to say a big thank you and show your appreciation for how awesome she is.

You send out an email to everyone (minus Lisa, you don’t want to ruin that surprise!) including a link so that everyone can pay you on Venmo and people start contributing straight away. Great. Or so you thought.

What’s actually happened is that some people have paid you immediately. Others have set themselves a reminder to pitch in some money once they’ve completed this urgent task in front of them. Others are waiting until they’ve got home to do this. Some people are Cash App or PayPal devotees and don’t have a Venmo account, they need to set this up to contribute, so their urgency (and likelihood) to do this has all but disappeared.

But you use Venmo every day. Coffees with friends. Trips to the theater with your family. That game of basketball you played in that you owe a few dollars for. Now you’ve got the potential for 100+ coworkers all making contributions into your Venmo account on different days and times, and they’re sandwiched between your own personal finances.

The whole thing has become a mess! You can’t tell anyone the total amount of money you’ve collected because it’s now a full-time admin job you have on your hands just to work it out. ‘Why can’t this money just be separate’ we hear you cry!

Enter Collctiv and our money pool function. You can create a pool for any occasion, gift or event and share a unique link or QR code to the necessary people, so their money only sits in the pool that it should.

Within the pool you’ll have the ability to see all the people who’ve contributed and how much, the running total amount, any messages that contributors have left and you can even choose a closing date. This gives you full visibility over the collection without blurring the line between your own money and what you’re responsible for from the group - saving you time, energy and allowing you to focus on making sure whatever you’re collecting for is a success!

And what about those PayPal/Cash App devotees we mentioned? They’ve committed to pitching in a certain amount but there’s a good chance you might not actually see any money from those guys, not because they don’t want to show some love and appreciation for Lisa, but because creating a new Venmo account which they won’t use again is a job that they don’t really want to do.

What if there was a simpler way around this that removed this friction? Well we've made it easy to collect money from people and they can tap to pay, in less than 10 seconds. They don’t need to download an app or go through any lengthy sign-up process, a couple of taps later and you’ve got your money. It really is this simple.

Another key benefit of a money pool is transparency. You may be the newest person in your team at work or you could be a seasoned 20-year veteran, known and loved by everyone. But you’re asking people to pay money into your personal account and with the money not being ring-fenced, it’s near impossible for you to show anyone how much has been collected (nor are you overly thrilled with the alternative of sharing your entire spending history for the last few weeks!). 

You’re starting to feel a little bit awkward about the whole thing.

Collctiv allows you the functionality to decide for each individual pool you create whether the running total/individual payments are anonymous or not (and don’t worry, Contributors can decide themselves if they’d like to stay anonymous regardless!)

‍How do I get started with a Money Pool?‍

We’re glad you asked. Whether it’s transparency you’re seeking, a less admin-heavy solution or just something which doesn’t involve you scrolling through weeks of Venmo transactions for you to be able to confirm that Mike from IT has actually chipped in their $10, Collctiv can help you.

The process to set up Collctiv is simple. Creating an account to sharing a pool with your group can be done in less than a couple of minutes. From the contributor side, there’s no need to download the app, no account required, they simply tap and pay to ensure you get your money quicker. What’s not to like? Check out our blog comparing all of the options available to you for a pooling money here. 

How do I set up Collctiv?‍

The process to set up Collctiv is simple. Creating an account to sharing a pool with your group can be done in less than a couple of minutes. It really is that easy.

Simply download the app here and begin collecting now!

Organisers bring people together

Since 2019 Collctiv has helped over 440,000 people from 97 countries come together by making it simple for Organisers to collect money from groups. Whether it's wedding collections, group holidays or grassroots sports teams - download our free app today and start bringing people together!

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