Scott Rasmussen's Number of the Day for June 15, 2017
The Number of the Day columns published on Ballotpedia reflect the views of the author.
June 15, 2017: While many older Americans have never heard of Venmo, the peer-to-peer payment service has quickly become a normal part of the millennial culture. It’s a way of transferring money among friends to split a dinner check or make any other casual payments. While the individual transactions are small, Venmo processed $17.6 billion worth of payments last year.[1]
Pizza is the item most frequently identified with Venmo purchases, a natural for millennials to share. Alcohol-related items such as beer and wine account for four of the 10 most frequent purchases. But larger items such as rent, utilities, and car expenses have become popular as well.[2] During March Madness, more than 10 percent of all Venmo payments may have been related to betting pools.[3]
Time magazine named Venmo one of the best apps for 2016, and Fortune magazine named it one of its breakthrough brands for 2017.[2]
Venmo’s success has shaken up the financial world and pushed traditional banks to innovate and improve their product. Thirty major U.S. banks have banded together to challenge Venmo by offering their own service, Zelle. Due to existing banking relationships, 86 million Americans will instantly have access to the new service.[1]
This is another example of how the culture leads and politics lag behind. As I note in Politics Has Failed: America Will Not, too many Americans believe politicians lead the nation. In reality, change comes from outside the institutions of the status quo. Without Venmo to lead the way, no regulators or legislators would have pushed the banks to serve consumers in this manner. And, without Venmo, there would have been no incentive for the big banks to offer this service on their own.
It will be interesting to see how this competition plays out as banks appeal to an older audience while Venmo has already captured the attention of millennials. One unique aspect of the Venmo app is the social media platform that lets users add emojis and comments to each transfer. It’s hard to imagine big corporate banks getting comfortable with emojis, but maybe competition will bring about a cultural change in the corporate suites.
Venmo was acquired by PayPal in 2013.
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- June 12, 2017 100 percent of Democratic Statewide Officials and State Legislators in Virginia Have Endorsed Ralph Northam for Governor
- June 9, 2017 191 congressional Democrats who voted for Obamacare are no longer in office
- June 8, 2017 228 years ago today James Madison proposed the Bill of Rights
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