Venmo New Account Bonus Promotions

Venmo is becoming one of my favorite ways to pay back friends.

During the pandemic, we were even able to use it to pay at some of my favorite restaurants – a nice no contact option that just had me scan QR code. It was super convenient.

Another reason I’m a fan of Venmo is because it integrates well with Splitwise, an app my friends and I use to split up bills. When we go on trips together, everyone can enter in what they pay for and it gets split up nicely. Splitwise then figures out the differences and limits the amount of back and forth that happens. If you have Venmo, you can take care of everything within the app and I find that extreme convenient.

So many good reasons to use it, but did you know there are promotions where you can get a few bucks for registering an account and making a payment?

Venmo’s $5-10 Referral New Account Promotion

Venmo has a referral program that is normally $5 but for a limited time is $10. (I’ve seen it get as high as $20)

Super simple, all you need is a referral link from someone with an existing account and then:

1. Open an account and link a bank account or credit card
2. Make a payment of at least $5, funded by that linked bank account or credit card
3. Do all this within 14 days of signing up

Then, when you have an account, you can refer up to ten people too.

The best way to find a link is to ask your friends who are using Venmo. You aren’t supposed to put your link out anywhere that someone other than friends or family will see, so I won’t be posting mine here.

Venmo’s Public Non-Referral New Account Promotion [EXPIRED]

Venmo will also sometimes offer a public non-referral based new account promotion and from now until March 31, 2022, that promotion can be seen here. (terms & conditions)

This new account promotion is different than the one above and the terms can change. To get the $10 for this, you just need to sign up through the invitation page and then add and verify your phone number for a new account. No need to send a payment to receive $10 from Venmo in this promotion.

If you need an account, this is the quickest and simplest way to get one and a bonus at the same time.

Eligibility: Open only to individuals who; (1) are residents of any one (1) of the fifty (50) United States or the District of Columbia, (2) are eighteen (18) years of age or older, (3) create a new U.S. Venmo account during the Offer Period (defined below), and (4) receive an email, or view a banner from PayPal inviting participation in the offer, or click through a social or paid media asset highlighting the introductory offer, (eligibility for/those who receive the Rewards will be determined solely by Venmo).

Other Payment Platform Promotions

Venmo is just one of many popular payment platforms similar to PayPal (though Venmo is owned by PayPal) and there are others that offer free money for singing up. The most popular alternative is the Cash App. You can get free money from the Cash App simply by signing up for an account and complete a $5 transaction.

The Cash App is just as convenient as Venmo and both are good. Oftentimes, it depends on what the recipient is using so I like having both since they don’t have any maintenance fees.

The downside with payment apps from a bonus perspective is that the offers are all fairly small. $10-20 is common and you won’t see them offering anything like a more traditional bank.

Here’s a look at what banks offer:

As you can see, these are much higher numbers than $10 or $20. That’s because the economics are different and so if you want bigger dollar bonuses, you’ll need to look to banks or credit cards.