Venmo, the mobile payments startup, continues to add new features that can pad its revenue stream.
Venmo, a subsidiary of BrainTree, which is owned by PayPal, allows for peer-to-peer payments that can link with existing social media accounts, like Facebook and Twitter. Users see a real-time feed of their transactions via their social media networks.
The new feature Venmo today added allows users to send money by just clicking on a button, which can be set up using embeddable code. Aptly named the “Venmo Button,” the new embeddable feature is installed on a website by copying and pasting code.
In a blog post, Venmo envisioned that artists and charitable organizations using the feature to have fans or supporters send them money and donations. Venmo acknowledges that not everyone has a personal website, and that the company is working with websites — presumably social media sites like Facebook — to expand the reach of the new Venmo Button.
We’ve reached out to Venmo to see what the company’s plans are regarding future uses of the Venmo Button and will update this post accordingly when we hear back.
For now, Venmo has partnered with Gittip, a crowdfunding website geared towards the tech community, to promote the Venmo Button. Gittip specializes in recurring donations towards tech projects and volunteer programs, but Venmo also offers one time donations for its users as well.
Venmo, a popular mobile payments app, has been referred to as “the best social network nobody’s talking about,” according to The Wire.
The feature is just one way Venmo is trying to expand and create new revenue streams. The company and its parent company BrainTree, which bought Venmo in 2012 for $26 million, has been growing at a rapid rate over the past few months. (BrainTree was bought by PayPal in September 2013 for $800 million in cash.) In a blog post earlier this month, BrainTree CEO Bill Ready said the mobile payments company’s payment volume grew in the last quarter almost 25%, a hefty growth rate, while Venmo’s grew nearly 62% and is now handling $1 billion of payments annually. By providing payments services to companies like AirBnb, Uber, and Fab, BrainTree has been able to grow its business at a rapid rate. Business Insider notes that Venmo has also been making mobile peer-to-peer payments immensely popular, especially on college campuses.
The value of Venmo and BrainTree tp PayPal appears to be expanding. EBay CEO John Donahoe even mentioned Venmo in a recent earnings call (eBay owns PayPal), cementing Venmo’s position as a key player for the company. We’re keeping an eye out for Venmo to compete more aggressively with companies like Square and, er, PayPal.