Venmo introduces cheque cashing feature

Venmo has rolled out a feature that lets some customers cash paper cheques – including government stimulus cheques – within its app.

Available to “select” customers, the Cash a Check feature will allow people to cash printed, payroll and government cheques directly from the Venmo app. Customers take a picture of the cheque and send to their account for review using the Venmo app, after which the money is deposited in their account, within minutes.

With the US government set to send out pandemic stimulus cheques in the next few weeks, Venmo is promising to waive fees for a limited time to give Americans an easy way to access their money without the need to go to a physical location.

Darrell Esch, SVP and GM, Venmo, says: “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.”

Eventually, Venmo will charge a one per cent fee on any government or payroll check cashed in the app with a pre-printed signature, with a minimum fee of $5.00. For other cheques, including hand-signed payroll and government checks, there will be a five per cent cashing fee, with a $5.00 minimum.