Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin
Venmo can access bank balance and transactions if you connect your bank account
14 points by Calvin02 on April 10, 2019 | hide | past | favorite | 12 comments
"If you connect your Venmo account to other financial accounts, ... , we may have access to your account balance and account and transactional information, such as purchases and funds transfers."

src: https://venmo.com/legal/us-privacy-policy



https://help.venmo.com/hc/en-us/articles/221073067-Verifying...

I mean it makes perfect sense, they want to know you have enough money to start transfers.

And the ability to do X doesn’t mean they’re doing X, It sounds like they might be tracking transfers related to Venmo, but their being honest and admitting that same power allows them much more access.

AFAIK they’re using Plaid, and nothing here is an unusual application of Plaid


Whoa! I didn't know they used Plaid. Plaid's terms are even more alarming. Why does Plaid need all this information?

"The types of information we collect from your financial institutions may include, but are not limited to:

Account information, including financial institution name, account name, account type, and account and routing number;

Information about an account balance, including current and available balance;

Information about credit accounts, including statement due dates and balances owed, payment amounts and dates, transaction history, and interest;

Information about loan accounts, including due dates, balances, payment amounts and dates, interest, loan type, payment plan, and term;

Information about the account owner(s), including name, email address, phone number, and address information.

Information about account transactions, including amount, date, type, and a description of the transaction."

src: https://plaid.com/legal/


A large part is because that’s how your bank exposes it. There’s not that much granularity in bank account access.

Another part is they’re not going to tailor the terms of service per usecase, they’ll list everything they can do, then narrow it down per application


What?!

They don't have to _collect_ it. They can say that we have access to it but will only collect it when you use a related product.


Did you read your own comment or are you too busy trying to force outrage...

The types of information we collect from your financial institutions _may include_, but are not limited to


Can someone confirm if I understand this correctly?

Venmo is what Americans use for small transfers because the US banking system is ridiculously antiquated and still revolves around paper cheque’s if you want to make a transfer from one bank to another?


Yeah, it's one of the easiest ways to send money back and forth between people.


I wonder if US banks will ever catch up to the rest of the world in this regard.


They have. Look at zelle. I think it's better than venmo because it is a part of the banks Mobile app and instantaneous transfer is the default, while venmo charges for it


> Look at zelle.

That phrase doesn’t mean much to someone outside the US. I looked it up, it’s a thing owned by some US banks (and thus only available to those banks customers? That part isn’t clear).

Being better than venmo doesn’t mean much either - in other countries interbank transfers are just something you do via your bank - no third party involved.


Never use Plaid. I’m guessing the apps that would apply to most on here are Venmo and Robinhood. Square Cash probably use them too.


You Need a Budget also uses Plaid.




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: