Venmo, a mobile payment service that is owned by PayPal, has recently announced a new feature in the Venmo app for (select customers) called Cash a Check with Venmo.
This feature allows the users to cash the paper checks within the app. This check capturing feature will allow users to quickly cash the checks without needing to visit a physical cash checking location or worrying about the long queues at the banks.
This Cash a Check service is provided by partners First Century Bank, N.A. and Ingo Money Inc. Ingo Money is already offering a similar feature to Venmo’s parent company.
“We know that with health and safety top of mind for many, having a safe way to access stimulus payments is essential for many of our customers, especially those who are receiving paper checks and traditionally would have to visit a physical check-cashing location,” said Venmo SVP and CM Darrell Esch. “By introducing the Venmo Cash a Check feature, we are not only enabling our customers to access their money quickly and safely from the comfort of their own homes but are also waiving all fees for cashing government-issued checks to ensure customers can use their stimulus funds to pay for the things they need most.
The eligibility criteria to use the Cash a Check feature requires you to have either Direct Deposit or a Venmo debit card enabled on your account, the location services must be turned on, and a verified email address is required.
With all the requirements met, the user can access cash a check by:
The eligible customers can then access the feature and get their checks reviewed in a few seconds, however, in special circumstances, the review might take several minutes or even up to an hour before the approval decision is made.
When the check is approved, the money will be transferred to the respective Venmo account in minutes, with the associated fees.
Yes, there will be fees associated with this check to cash feature, but with the US government set to send out pandemic stimulus checks in the next few weeks, Venmo is waiving the fees for deposits of stimulus checks for a limited time.
However, its usual fees, according to PayPal’s terms of service, will be a 5% check cashing fee for hand-signed payroll and government checks for a minimum fee of $5, and 1% fees on payroll or government checks with pre-printed signatures.
The users can cash the checks that range from a minimum of $5 to a maximum of $5,000. The users can cash multiple checks in a day totaling up to $5,000 in value per day and $15,000 in value per month.
Conclusion
PayPal already allows users to cash checks in the PayPal app. The company’s move into check-cashing doesn’t make this payment app, an alternative to online banking. Instead, it serves largely as a way for Venmo to benefit from the inrush of the stimulus payments that are rolling out now to its U.S users. To learn more about Venmo, one can access the site of BankQuality and gain the required information.