How To Cancel a Venmo Payment: What You Need To Know
Written by
Dawn Allcot
Edited by
Levi Leidy
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Venmo is one of most popular mobile payment services in the U.S. With it, users can send money to friends, family members, acquaintances — anyone with a Venmo account. It’s a convenient way to pay friends back after an outing, request money that you’re owed and even pay vendors for services.
However, much like with mobile shopping, it can be easy to hit “send” on your Venmo payment only to realize you paid the wrong person. Or maybe you’re hit with buyer’s remorse (sender’s regret?) and just didn’t think the transaction through before you made it. If you find yourself in this situation, is it possible to cancel a Venmo payment?
How To Cancel a Venmo Payment
Unfortunately, you can’t cancel or reverse a completed Venmo payment if you’ve sent the funds to the wrong person. The best you can do is request that the person return the money.
To do this, choose the Venmo account that you mistakenly paid. Enter the amount of the payment, and then click “Request.” Hopefully, the person will return the money. If you accidentally sent money to a friend, it might also help to reach out and explain what happened.
However, if the payment you made is still listed as “pending” you can take back the payment.
To cancel a pending payment, follow these steps:
- On your Venmo app, navigate to the “Me” tab
- At the top of your “Transactions feed,” locate the pending payment you want to cancel
- Select “Take Back”
When Can You Cancel a Venmo Payment?
The only time you can affectively cancel a Venmo payment is if it is listed as “pending,” meaning it hasn’t gone through yet. In this case, Venmo says you should be able to take back the payment, and the money will be returned to the source it was paid from–either your linked bank account/card or your Venmo balance.
Understanding Venmo’s Instant Transfers
The purpose of Venmo is the near-instant digital transfer of money. That means if you make a payment from your verified Venmo account to another person’s verified Venmo account, the payment will go through almost immediately, and you won’t have the chance to cancel it. This is why it’s important to ensure you’ve entered not only the right information for the person you’re paying but the right payment amount before you hit that “send” button.
Venmo tries to prevent its users from paying the wrong person by asking them to enter the last four digits of the person’s phone number before sending the money. However, you’ll only have to do this if you’re paying someone you’ve never sent money before. To make payments more convenient, you can request to be a person’s “friend” on Venmo, and your transfers to each other will go through without interruption.
Situations Where You Can Cancel a Payment
If you send your payment to a phone number or email address that isn’t associated with an active Venmo account, then the payment may show as “pending.” In this case, the money won’t be instantly transferred to the person, and you have a chance to cancel the payment.
Aside from pending payments, you can also request a refund for any payments you’ve sent to businesses. However, you’ll have to contact the business, and they may elect not to give you a refund. If you’ve been scammed, the next step would be to contact Venmo’s support team.
What To Do If You Can’t Cancel the Payment
If your payment went through instantly and is not listed as pending, unfortunately, you won’t be able to cancel it. In this situation, Venmo recommends a few courses of action, the first of which is to request your money back from the person you mistakenly paid.
To do this, you can click on the person’s Venmo profile, click the “Pay or Request” button, and request the exact amount you accidentally sent them. You can even include an explanation in the request. If you know the person you mistakenly paid, it may also help to reach out to them with a text or phone call.
However, if the person isn’t open to returning your money or you can’t reach them, Venmo urges you to contact its support team. This is especially important if you believe you’re the victim of a scam. Provide the following information:
- The username of the person you paid
- Payment amount
- Payment date
- Username, phone number and email for the person you intended to pay
How To Contact Venmo Support for Payment Reversals
There are a few different ways you can contact the Venmo support team.
- By app: Go to the “Get Help” section of your Venmo app and hit “Contact Us” to open a chat. According to the Venmo website, teammates are available to chat every day from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. CT.
- By phone call: If you’d like to talk to a representative, you can call 855-812-4430. The line is open for calls from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. CT every day.
- By online form: You can also scroll to the bottom of this page and fill out your information. Venmo’s support team should reach out to you once they process your inquiry.
Venmo offers no guarantees for payment reversal, but the company will take steps to assist. If you were scammed and can successfully prove it, you may be more likely to get your money back.
Can You Cancel a Venmo Payment Sent to the Wrong Person?
You can only cancel a Venmo payment sent to the wrong person if it is still pending. In most cases, though, the payment will go through immediately, and you won’t be able to cancel or reverse it without taking additional actions.
If you accidentally sent a Venmo payment to the wrong person, you can request your money back by sending a request to their account or reaching out to them personally and explaining the situation. You can also contact the Venmo support team through the app, by phone, or by filling out an online form detailing your request.
