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Venmo is the most modern and convenient way for friends to send each other money. Gone are the days of IOUs or having to wait to see your buddy before handing them a wad of cash to settle a casual loan – Venmo lets you pay people with just a couple of clicks on your phone.
While exceptionally convenient for this kind of personal transaction, Venmo sportsbooks are a different story.
Both in the United States and around the world, sportsbooks do not accept Venmo as a payment option – at least in the traditional sense. When you open up your cashier, don’t expect to see Venmo listed as an option alongside credit and debit cards, bank transfers, PayPal, Neteller, Bitcoin and all the rest.
However, that doesn’t entirely mean that you can’t use your Venmo account to bet online.
Even if you don’t use it directly, there are some ways your Venmo account can come in useful for online gambling – and we’re here to explain exactly what they are.
On this page we cover:
As you’re going to see, Venmo is certainly one of the more atypical deposit options we cover here. Let’s check it out. Venmo doesn’t work with the sportsbooks that you prefer? Try checking out the following sportsbook deposit methods to see if something else fits your needs better:
Venmo is a payment system owned by PayPal that allows you to send money instantly from one Venmo account to another. Venmo users download an app on their Android or Apple phones, which holds their Venmo wallet. Find the best apps with our guide on the best sports betting apps!
You can link your Venmo account to your bank card or bank account to transfer funds from one to the other, and sending money to other Venmo users is possible with the click of a button.
Although similar to other e-wallet services like Neteller or Skrill, Venmo is geared towards personal transactions. It was originally designed as a fast way to send money to your friends (to replace handing people cash or a check), and the app interface includes your transaction history including a chat feature and emojis – making it a more social and personal experience.
Although created for personal transactions, Venmo has expanded its services so that you can use your account to pay for commercial services – like Uber or Uber Eats in the US for example.
However, online gambling is not one of the services.
Venmo is not officially available as a payment method at online sportsbooks.
You won’t be able to initiate a payment to a sportsbook from your Venmo account in the same way you would to a friend, and you won’t see gambling sites or legit online casinos advertising Venmo money transfers as an option for deposits or withdrawals.
However, if you have a Venmo account and want to use it to bet, there are some ways to do it, the first being with a Venmo Mastercard.
This is a special credit card you can apply for which is linked to your Venmo account, and backed by Mastercard. It works in just the same way as your regular credit card and can be used to pay for all kinds of things, but it’s not connected to your personal banking.
Since you can use your Venmo card just like your regular bank card, it can be used at sportsbooks that accept Mastercard deposits, meaning the acceptance rate is very high. Just head to the cashier, look for a Mastercard deposit and type in your details. The process is exceptionally fast and easy.
You’ll need to apply for your Venmo Mastercard separately, once you’ve created a Venmo account. If you’re a regular Venmo user the card is very convenient. You can use it to pay for anything you like, and even withdraw your money in cash from an ATM.
The second method for betting with Venmo is a little more complicated.
It involves paying someone to place bets on your behalf. You can send a personal Venmo payment to the person’s account, they place the bet and Venmo you back the winnings if you win – along with whatever small fee they charge.
It may sound slightly shady, but actually, it’s a very common activity, with whole companies like MatchPay created to facilitate people who want to bet with Venmo but don’t have or want their own betting account.
In effect, the middle man is just operating their own book. It’s a creative solution that enables Venmo betting without signing up to an account, and it’s especially popular in places where sports betting is not yet legal.
As we said, the answer is basically none of them do. Using regular Venmo transfers to top up your account is not a thing.
However, practically every bookie accepts Mastercard deposits, so if you are using a Venmo Mastercard you have endless options.
As for the other option of getting someone to place a bet on your behalf, this entirely depends on the intermediary service or person and not the sportsbook where the bet is ultimately being placed. These services vary a lot depending on where you are located among other things, and you’ll have to do local research if this is how you want to use Venmo.
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If you’re using the Venmo Mastercard method, the only fees you’ll have to worry about are the standard fees Venmo charges you for using the card. Sportsbooks very rarely charge users to make deposits using a debit or credit card
Venmo has some other fees you should be aware of if you use the service in general, but since you can use regular Venmo transfers to top up your sportsbook they aren’t relevant here.
For the most part, this is not possible. Sportsbooks certainly don’t offer direct withdrawals via Venmo.
Even if you can top up your account using a Venmo Mastercard, it’s rare that you can withdraw via the same method: Mastercard deposits are very widely available, but payouts are not.
That means if you do use your Venmo Mastercard to top up your sportsbook account, you’ll need to use another method to withdraw any winnings, and it would be a circuitous route to get your cash back into your Venmo wallet.
If you’re using Venmo to have someone else bet on your behalf, you will receive your winnings directly via a Venmo transfer from them.
Payments via a Venmo Mastercard are processed instantly, meaning you can use it to make a deposit and your cash will be available to bet with immediately.
If you’re sending money to another Venmo account (whether for betting purposes or not), the transfer occurs instantly. This makes Venmo extremely convenient for sending money to friends, even if you, unfortunately, can’t use the same method to top up your sportsbook account.
No matter how you intend to top up your sportsbook, you can expect to receive a welcome bonus when you create your account.
Welcome bonuses are used by sportsbooks to attract new members and come in different shapes and sizes depending on the bookmaker. Check out the best bonuses offered by sportsbooks now.
For example, no deposit bonuses are special offers where you receive a small amount of bonus cash just for creating your account, without needing to make a deposit at all. You can use the cash to bet however you like, but you’ll need to fulfill certain wagering requirements before it can be withdrawn.
Enhanced deposit bonuses on the other hand involve the sportsbooks matching some or all of your first deposit, up to a certain limit. So if you join a sportsbook and use your Venmo Mastercard to deposit $50, you might receive $100 in total in your account.
Again, you’ll have to complete the turnover to withdraw the extra money. Check out the following list to check the best sign-up bonuses by the state!
Venmo is an incredibly convenient tool. Even if it’s not exactly tailor-made for online betting sites, it still has plenty of advantages.
Venmo does have some disadvantages compared with other payment options.
Make Your Life Easy
Venmo is an extremely useful service. It’s perfect for sending money instantly to personal accounts, and your Venmo balance can be used to pay for a growing number of other goods and services directly. Online sports betting in the USA however is not yet one of them.
Instead, the creative betting fans out there have found ways around the issue. So online sports bettors can still use your Venmo balance to place bets, in a roundabout way.
Applying for a Venmo Mastercard is very easy, and is a no-brainer if you are already a Venmo user. Intermediary betting services (where you privately Venmo someone money to place a bet on your behalf) offer a rare opportunity to place a bet online without signing up to an account or providing any personal info.
Remember that US sportsbooks will never let you withdraw using Venmo, and you’ll need to find a different online payment service for cashouts – using PayPal or Skrill for example,
These methods won’t be for everyone, but for some they are the perfect way to bet online.
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