Commentary

Venmo's Users Are More Mobile, Social Than PayPal's

With their worlds about to be rocked by Facebook’s new cryptocurrency, now seems a good time to take a closer look at payment apps like PayPal and Venmo.

Launched about a decade after PayPal, Venmo’s user base is younger, more dynamic and more social, according to mobile data firm Zeotap.

For example, users of Venmo have the option of letting friends view their transactions. Among other implications, this means that Facebook’s forthcoming cryptocurrency poses more of a direct threat to Venmo (which is actually owned by PayPal).

Venmo users are also far better acquainted with social apps than PayPal users. Indeed, more than 89% of Venmo users have Facebook’s flagship app, compared to 44% of PayPal users, per Zeotap’s findings.

Relative to PayPal users, Venmo is also better for audience targeting, since its followers are heavier app users and more active on mobile.

About 82% of Venmo users have an Instagram account versus 36% of PayPal users; 68% of Venmo users have Snapchat versus 28% of PayPal users; and 40% of Venmo users have Twitter versus 16% of PayPal users.

Beyond social, about 67% of Venmo users have the Netflix app versus 30% of PayPal users; 66% of Venmo users have Uber versus 23% of PayPal users; and 70% of Venmo users have Spotify versus 55% of PayPal users. 

As for mobile wallets, 84% of Venmo users use Android Pay versus 37% of PayPal users, and 70% of Venmo users use Samsung Pay versus 30% of PayPal users. 

As for socio-demographic profiles, most PayPal and Venmo users have a high school or college degree, and have incomes ranging between $100,000 to $249,000.

Eighty-two percent of users of both PayPal and Venmo are between the ages of 18 and 34. However, 50% of Venmo users are 25 to 34 -- that is, millennials -- while just 30% of Paypal users are in this group.

Significantly more men than women use Venmo (61% vs. 39%). In comparison, 53% of PayPal's female/male user profile is 53%/47%.

PayPal has 277 million active accounts worldwide, while Venmo (which is still available only domestically) boasts about 40 million members, according to Statista.
Next story loading loading..