Hidden risks: hiding Venmo payments

Sharing transactions with your friends on Venmo might seem a bit weird but probably harmless, right? Nope. It’s time to turn that setting off immediately.

With shared Venmo payments: 

• Your ex could find out about a new partner
• A stalker could identify a restaurant or bar you visit regularly 
• A thief could identify that you are on vacation and use the opportunity to rob your home
• Your boss could see sensitive transactions that imply you use illegal drugs or have unconventional hobbies
• A harasser could identify close friends to send threatening or embarrassing messages

Fortunately, with some digging in the settings on desktop, you can turn this feature off, either for individual payments or—ideally—for all of them.

Block Party can automate this process, or you can make it happen manually instead.

How to hide a Venmo payment you already made

To hide a single Venmo payment that you have already made, you'll first need to log into Venmo on mobile and head over to your profile by tapping on "Me".

1. Tap "Transactions" .
2. Find the transaction you want to hide and tap to open it.
3. Find "Transaction details" and click on the blue text to the right of the time stamp. It should say "Public" or "Friends". (If it says "Private", you're already set!)
4. Select "Private".

Note that once you've made a transaction private, you cannot make it public again.

How to hide a Venmo payment you haven't made yet

If you haven't yet made a payment and would like to keep it private, you can do so from the transaction page before you pay: 

1. Enter the amount you would like to pay and tap "Pay" as normal
2. On the page where you confirm the payment source, look for "Privacy" and tap the blue text to the right. It should say "Friends" or "Public". If it says "Private", you don't have to do anything else!
3. Select "Private" on the menu that opens.
4. Hit "Pay" as normal.

Your transaction will be private! But why not update your. defaults so you can hide all your payments?

How to hide all your Venmo payments

You'll first need to log into Venmo and head over to settings.

1. Visit https://account.venmo.com/settings/privacy.
2. Under "Future Payments," select "Private".
3. Under "Past Payments," select "Change to Private".
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And while you’re at it, go turn off automatic friending and hide your friends list, too.

Wondering what other problems are lurking in your social media settings? Block Party can help identify risks, offer expert recommendations, and automate settings updates to save you time.