It’s convenient, it’s quick and it’s increasingly popular among college students. It’s a mobile payment app called Venmo.
Instead of tediously pulling out my wallet and rummaging for cash to pay back a friend for lunch, I can send them the money electronically in an ?instant. It’s that simple.
It’s also not as secure as you might think. Now, I admit my general paranoia for electronic monetary transactions. I never deposit checks using an ATM; I always go to the bank and talk to a real, breathing human being. I also don’t trust ordering food online. I mean, what if the transaction doesn’t go through? Will I ever get my Pad Thai noodles?
But there is something a little unsettling about the app. After downloading Venmo to your iPhone, it can be hooked up to your bank account and swiftly synced with your Facebook contacts. You can connect it to a debit or credit card, with a 3 percent fee for credit.
I understand the attraction, but this just screams danger. Slate reported Wednesday that the app has basic security holes. A New York man, Chris Grey, (not Christian Grey, people) recounted his experience getting hacked and charged $2,850 without even a ?notification from Venmo.
While Chase Bank pinged Grey for the large transaction, it wasn’t until then that he realized his Venmo password had been changed, another device was added to his account and other settings had changed.
The fact that Venmo does not alert its users when passwords or email authorizations are changed is a massive shortcoming, to say the least.
There are just too many ways for something to go horribly wrong. Before you know it, someone has wiped a couple thousand dollars from your bank account.
Losing a credit card is dangerous enough even if you’re able to quickly freeze the account. Debit cards are another story, since the transaction is immediate. Once your money is gone, it’s gone for good.
So say goodbye to spring break in the Bahamas and say hello to ramen noodles every night for dinner.
But Venmo’s lack of basic security and inability to notify its users when their accounts are compromised is more than disconcerting. The company was ordered by California regulators to address these security issues in July 2014.
Jan Lynn Owen, commissioner of the California Department of Business Oversight, issued the order, citing the company’s lack of a “formal consumer assistance policy.”
A Venmo spokesperson said the company is “addressing the concerns” of the order.
This is just a security breach waiting to happen. Let us not forget the fiasco of the data breach Target experienced in 2013, costing the company $148 million and compromising the credit card and personal information from more than 100 million customers.
My friends use Venmo to pay each other for rent, utilities and late-night Papa John’s deliveries. I’ve always preferred cash, and use my credit card only when I feel especially poor. When I relinquish physical dollar bills from my wallet, the pang in my heart is just that much more real than simply swiping a card or making a quick transaction on my smartphone.
And I think that is a good thing. Venmo is trendy, convenient and a pretty innovative idea. It’s also just too much of a risk, and it’s one that I am not willing to take. Sorry friends, I hope you accept payment in the form of dollar bills and endless acts of devotion.
nrowthor@umail.iu.edu
