Venmo’s biggest makeover in years comes at a very interesting time

Venmo is rolling out a significant redesign over the coming months that aims to make the app more useful, social, and easier to navigate. This is the peer-to-peer payments app’s biggest refresh since 2021.

The timing is notable. PayPal, which owns Venmo, is restructuring to spin Venmo off as a standalone business unit — a move widely seen as laying the groundwork for a potential sale. Stripe has reportedly expressed interest in buying PayPal outright. In that context, a splashy redesign looks less like a routine update and more like a window-dressing job ahead of a transaction.

The rollout will begin this week, followed by additional features over the next few months. By the time fall arrives, the entire redesign is expected to be available to all users. 

One of the first changes users will notice starting this week is the revamped feed. Where it once showed a simple list of who paid whom — with GIFs, a heart button, and comments — the new feed will feature a wider variety of visuals and larger images, along with more ways to respond to payments, such as reactions and quick action buttons like “Pay Again” and “Say Thanks.” It’ll also be more personalized, surfacing tailored cashback offers from brands you shop from and product suggestions based on previous purchases.

Another addition is the ability for users to endorse their favorite local businesses directly through the app. A new “Give a Shoutout” button will be available under payments in the feed.

As Alexis Sowa, Venmo’s senior vice president and general manager, explained to TechCrunch, “One of the things that we hear a lot, especially from Gen Z and younger audiences, is a real desire to support and endorse local businesses or merchants that they like. With this feed redesign, we’re giving an opportunity for them to share what we call social proofing. In the future, you will be able to kind of endorse that business — give a thumbs up, almost to say, ‘I go to you.’”

Two new tabs, “Send” and “Money,” will also launch in the next few months. In the Send feed, your most frequent contacts now appear as a row of profile icons front and center, instead of requiring you to dig through past contacts or user names. The bill-splitting “Groups” feature” is now easier to access, too, letting users split expenses with up to 30 people. You can also send gifts to friends and schedule payments in the Send section.

The Money tab, meanwhile, is where you can manage your expenses as well as access Teen Accounts and Crypto.

There will also be a new Rewards tab that pulls all limited time offers in one place. This is also where Venmo’s Stash program will live. Launched last November, this gives users up to 5% cash back when they shop with their favorite brands in the app, money that’s deposited directly to their Venmo Mastercard Debit Card.

Sowa said the redesign came out of a year of user research, and that one of the biggest findings was how many features people didn’t know existed. “One of the biggest insights is how many features and functionalities we have that [customers] just have no idea exist in the app,” she said. 

The update reflects a broader trend in what younger users expect from payment apps — less utility tool, more social platform. For instance, apps like Verse and Daylight offer features that let users keep up with their friends’ spending behavior, and the European fintech app Revolut offers features like group bill splitting and in-app chat. 

Venmo’s core audience increasingly wants to see and share financial activity the way they would on any other feed, and the app is clearly trying to meet that expectation before a potential new owner comes knocking.