Venmo’s biggest change in years comes at a very exciting time

Venmo is rolling out a major overhaul in the coming months that aims to make the app more efficient, collaborative, and user-friendly. This is the biggest refresh of the peer-to-peer program since then 2021.

Time is known. PayPal, which owns Venmo, is to renovate moving Venmo as a vertical business unit — a move that appears to be laying the groundwork for a shoppable store. Stripe says it has expressed interest buy PayPal directly. In this context, the splashy renovation is seen as a change in routine and as a window-dressing operation in front of the action.

The rollout will begin this week, followed by additional updates over the next few months. By fall, all updates are expected to be available to all users.

One of the first changes that users will see starting this week is the updated feed. Where it previously showed a simple list of those who paid – with GIFs, a heart button, and comments – the new feed will have a different look and large images, along with many ways to respond to payments, such as actions and quick buttons such as “Pay Again” and “Say Thank You.” It will also be personalized, bringing cashback from the brands you shop at and product recommendations based on your previous purchases.

Another plus is the ability for users to approve their favorite businesses through the app. A new “Give a Shoutout” button will be available at checkout in the menu.

As Alexis Sowa, senior vice president and general manager of Venmo, explained to TechCrunch, “One of the things we hear a lot, especially from Gen Z and the younger audience, is the desire to support and promote local businesses or entrepreneurs that they like. Wake up, almost say, ‘I’ll 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 pictures front and center, instead of requiring you to search for past numbers or usernames. The sharing feature “Groups” is now easier to access, too, allowing users to share money with up to 30 people. You can also send gifts to friends and arrange payments in the Send section.

The Money tab, meanwhile, is where you can manage your spending and get a Crypto Account.

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

Sowa said the redesign was based on a year of user research, and one of the biggest things they found was the amount of things people didn’t know about. “One of the biggest issues is how many of the products we have (customers) don’t know what’s available in the program,” he said.

These updates reflect more of what younger users expect from paid apps – less hardware, more social media. For example, apps like Verse and Daylight offer features that allow users to track their friends’ spending, and European fintech app Revolut offers features like group bill sharing and internal chat.

Venmo’s core audience wants to see and share money like any other food service, and the app is trying to meet those expectations before a new owner arrives.