Venmo is starting to test a major redesign of its app, and as part of the changes, it will implement a major new privacy measure: The onboarding process for new users will set their posts to be viewable only by their friends by default, rather than being public.
This is a notable update for a platform that has struggled with privacy in the past. In 2021, buzzfeed news President Joe Biden’s Venmo account and the accounts of people in his inner circle were tracked because at the time Venmo had no way to keep your Venmo contacts private. It was fixed soon after.
As part of the redesign, if you’re a new user and you want your posts to be public (or private just to you), you’ll be able to set this as part of the new onboarding flow. You can also change your preference in Settings after the fact; An updated screen for sending money will also show whether that post is private, visible only to friends, or publicly visible before you make the transaction.
These changes are in service of giving users “more visibility and control over what they share because it’s important to us that they really trust the Venmo experience,” explains Venmo SVP and GM Alexis Sova. The Verge.
Venmo’s redesign is going to be rolled out in phases, starting first with a new look for the feed that will gradually roll out to iOS and Android in the coming weeks. Going forward, Venmo will introduce three new “surfaces” to the app: Send, where you can see your close friends and find features like groups, gifting, and scheduled payments; Money, where you can manage things like crypto and link Venmo to apps and websites; and Rewards, where you can find offers and track cashback from Venmo’s rewards program.
We’ve asked Venmo to clarify at what stage the new onboarding process will begin, and will update this story when we hear back.
According to Sova, much of the redesign is also about setting Venmo up for the future. Venmo is “known more as the place where you split the bill after a real-life shared experience,” she says. “Moving forward we’re really excited to adapt and address a broader range of consumer needs, whether it’s sending money, spending money, saving, borrowing, investing. You can imagine a world where we play a much more prominent role in all of those areas of the consumer’s life.”
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