Mobile Payments Platform Venmo Poised to Dump Web Support

In the course of events of just about any platform, changes follow, including those that current users might rather not see. Venmo recently announced some changes to follow to its users, and for anyone who was using Venmo over the company’s website, you’d better start looking at your plan B.

The word came from an email sent to users, which noted that Venmo had decided to “…phase out some of the functionality on the Venmo.com website over the coming months.” Ominous, but it got worse. Venmo noted it was already “…beginning to discontinue the ability to pay and charge someone on the Venmo.com website….” It followed this up by noting that “…over time, you may see less functionality on the website—this is just the start.”

Some believe that this was a largely inevitable change, especially considering how much overlap there was between Venmo and its parent company PayPal. Worse, Venmo actually had better fees than PayPal; Venmo charged three percent on credit card payments and nothing on debit cards. PayPal charges 2.9 percent and a $0.30 fixed fee on anything from a credit or debit card.

Moreover, some point to growing competition from Zelle, which has already surpassed Venmo in terms of use. Venmo may well believe that, if it shuts down the website, it can migrate all that traffic to the mobile app and gain a little extra steam that way.

The problem with such a belief is that it puts artificial limits on the customers. Versatility is still something to shoot for, and giving customers a way to use Venmo even when the app is down or otherwise unusable wasn’t a bad plan. Sure, focusing on the app could be a good plan—especially if new innovations follow—but there’s still something so disturbing in telling customers “no.” Who’s to say that all of Venmo’s web users would follow Venmo to the app? Still, with Zelle gaining at the rate it is, focusing may not be that bad an idea.

Only time will tell how well Venmo’s plan works, or what it follows this shutdown up with, but for right now, Venmo customers using the website better plan to go mobile, or plan to get out altogether.