I use Venmo almost every day. Every time that I do, I hate the fact that I am outlaying money without getting anything in return. This all changed recently…
Amex has a relatively new feature called Amex Send & Split. It is a feature in the Amex App that allows you to send money to people without the usual Venmo, PayPal, etc. transaction fee. THERE IS NO TRANSACTION FEE!
There are two ways you can use the feature and I have tested out both ways.
First way-Through the Amex App…
This is the way I have been doing it but there are some downsides to this method as I indicate below.
- Make sure you have the Amex App on your phone
- When you are logged in on the app-click “Account” in the bottom right
- Scroll down till you see “Amex Send & Split”
- Follow the prompts to link your Venmo and to add money to your Amex Send Account from any of your Amex cards. Each card has a maximum of what you can add.
- Send money via the app..make sure you send to the person’s cell. Maybe do a few tests for like $1 each. I did this to make sure it worked.
- You can confirm your activity in your normal Venmo app. It will be there and it will look just like you did the transaction via Venmo!
Downsides to this method..
About three times now, Amex has made me call in to confirm a payment. They stopped me from making the transaction until they made sure it wasn’t fraud. In my last call with them, I asked them to please make sure this stopped, that I literally Venmo every day and I didn’t want to have to keep calling in. So far it has worked but I am still skeptical if I won’t have to verify again. This minor inconvenience is worth it (to me) so that I can earn rewards on my cash outlays.
Second Method-Through the Venmo app
- You need to go to settings in your Venmo account and go to “Payment Methods” and click “Add bank or card”
- You will have the option (3rd one) that shows “Amex Send Account”. IMPORTANT-DO NOT LINK YOUR AMEX CARD TO YOUR VENMO ACCOUNT-THAT WILL INCUR FEES.
- Follow the prompts to link your Amex account.
Downsides to this method
- Venmo will only default to your Amex Send account if your Venmo balance is 0. So you need to constantly transfer money out of your Venmo account to zero it out.
- Unlike in the first method, if you don’t have enough in your Amex Send account, you can’t add more funds right on the spot like you can do in the first method.
- You may also get verified by Amex thru this method, but I haven’t really used this method so I can’t confirm this.
Play around and test it out with both methods. I am happy to answer personal questions too. For me, this feature is a complete game changer as I really do Venmo almost every day! 🙂