Venmo: Texting its way to a cash-free future

Pay 555-555-1234 $13.70 for dinner. It seems simple; sending money to a friend or business with your phone, but after years of trying, the practice never really caught on in the U.S. Past attempts at sending money with a cell phone have been simple enough to use, but the fees involved often outweighed the convenience of texting a payment. This problem is one that Venmo, a new mobile payment service, hopes to avoid in order to grow as a cash replacement.

"We allow people to make cash transactions without the hassle of carrying cash", says Jameel Farruk of Venmo in a phone interview with WalletPop. It's the lack of fees that Venmo believes will allow it to become popular not only with individuals who need to pay a friend, but also with businesses who could set up a Venmo account to let customers pay for a coffee or other goods and services.