Venmo doesn’t work for payments outside the US, and you can’t send money from abroad to someone who’s in the US.
The company explicitly says that both sender and receiver have to be physically present in the US.
Nevertheless, as you’re about to find out, there are many excellent alternatives to Venmo for international transfers.
Because Venmo isn’t available internationally and you can’t send or receive payments from abroad, I listed many excellent alternatives to Venmo that work outside and inside the United States.
- Automated investing for beginners
- Pick stocks collections you love
- Invest in the world you want to see
1. Wise
- Free account
- International bank details
- Send money to more than 70 countries
- Always a low and transparent fee
- Direct Debits in the UK, Europe, and the US
- Spend in local currency with your card
- Receive your salary, pension, and more
- Pay at the real exchange rate
- Pay online securely with instant notifications
- Use your card in more than 200 countries and withdraw money from 2.3 million ATMs
Wise is much more than a simple mobile payment service, which Venmo undoubtedly is. Wise offers personal and business accounts that come with a free debit card. The company specifically focuses on small and medium businesses and freelancers.
The multi-currency account lets you hold and convert 50 currencies, and you can use their card in 175 countries. Connect the card with Apple and Google Pay, and withdraw anywhere.
Another great benefit is receiving payments “like a local” in 10 currencies and getting a US dollar, a UK British pound, and a Euro IBAN accounts, as well as seven more.
The company is known for using only the best exchange rate you can get, and it adds a small fee. Senders save on costs, and recipients receive the money for free in their local currency.
The best thing about it? You can see the fees upfront, as well as the exact amount and the time it takes to transfer the funds.
With over 15 million personal and business customers worldwide, Wise moves around $11 billion each month in over 50 different currencies.
2. Revolut
- Multi-currency accounts
- Connect all your bank accounts with Revolut
- Instant international money transfers
- Daily discounts and cashback
- Great for traveling and sending money abroad
- No need for a card
- Great security features
- Ability to pay with a single-use card to keep your money safe
- Trade stocks, crypto, and commodities
Revolut is a financial super app that offers personal and business accounts in more than 30 currencies, easy money transfers, investing in crypto, stocks, and commodities, savings vaults, and their coveted meta cards, among other things.
They already have up to 25 million personal customers worldwide and an additional 500,000 businesses. They recently expanded to the US and Japan as well.
Revolut lets you transfer money internationally with no hidden fees and at the real exchange rate, so you’ll know upfront how much you’ll be paying for the transfer.
If you have more than one bank account in different institutions, you can link all of them together in the Revolut app.
3. Paysend
- Transfer money to over 170 countries
- Fixed fee
- Paysend link
- Instant processing
- Paysend Global account
- Paysend Smartcard
- Business accounts
Paysend offers both personal and business accounts and is trusted by over 6 million customers. It also supports money transfers to 170 countries.
However, Paysend isn’t just a meer money transfer service. It, too, offers a multi-currency account and app that lets you hold, send, and spend your cash.
You can keep up to 13 currencies in your multi-currency account: EUR, USD, GBP, CNY, CZK, NOK, SEK, PLN, DKK, HUF, CHF, and RON.
Nevertheless, you can only top up your account in EUR, GBP, PLN, and CZK by using your card, bank, Apple Pay, or Google Pay.
The app lets you connect all your bank accounts to Paysend, and the Mastercard lets you spend abroad with no extra charges.
4. Remitly
- First-time transfer promotions
- Easy to understand and send money
- Delivery promise
- Delivered by a specified time or the fees are refunded
- Many delivery options
- Track your transfer by email and text
Remitly is another great alternative to Venmo for international use, as it supports 100+ receiving countries and 28 sending countries.
The speed of your transfer depends on where you’re sending money and what options you choose. The same is true for the cost of the transfer.
However, everything is laid out transparently before you commit to the transfer and the recipient never has to pay for anything.
It also offers a bank account coupled with a Visa debit card. It has no monthly fees and no minimum balance fees. Additionally, ATM withdrawals and transfers within the Visa Plus Alliance network are both free.
Fund the account with cash deposits, mobile check deposits, or bank account transfers. The best part about the account is that you don’t even need an SSN to open it. You can use your passport, US Visa, or Matricula Consular.
5. CurrencyFair
- Low-cost transfers
- Set your own rate
- Live conversion rate
- Multi-currency account
- Business accounts
Our last Venmo alternative is CurrencyFair. CurrencyFair lets you easily send and receive money transfers to and from 150+ countries from your device, 24/7.
You can transfer money in over 20 currencies and get same-day transfers for all the major ones. Additionally, your international transfer is treated as a local transfer, which is why it’s so cheap to use CurrencyFair.
The company has a unique angle regarding foreign exchange. In its Exchange, unique peer-to-peer exchange empowers you to set your own exchange rate. You then simply have to wait for it to be matched with other customers exchanging the opposite currency.
This allows you and the person on the other side to get a more favorable exchange rate that might be better than what you see on Google.
Useful Information About Venmo
Who Can Use Venmo?
Unlike PayPal, Venmo’s parent company, only those over 18 who are physically located in the United States and have a domestic cell phone can use Venmo.
Besides, the phone must be able to send and receive messages from shortcodes. The phone number also can’t be already associated with another Venmo account.
Can I Use Venmo with a VPN?
Many people try to fool apps with a VPN into thinking they are in the United States.
However, Venmo will give you an error message when you’re on a VPN, and you won’t be able to use the app.
Why Is Venmo So Popular?
Venmo is most popular with younger people, which comes as no surprise. It has a social component and uses emojis that drive the popularity of the payments app.
People like to share what they spend their money on.
Couple that with messages and cool emojis, and you have a multibillion-dollar app with millions of users.
Venmo Advantages
Venmo has an easy registration process, is easy to use, and is widely used.
It also has no monthly fees and has instant transfers.
It comes with a free debit card, and you can make payments with your bank account, credit card, or debit card.
Venmo Disadvantages
Venmo doesn’t care much about your privacy.
In fact, one of its primary features is the fact that you’re sharing with others what you’re spending your money on.
It’s also only available in the US, and you can’t cancel your payments because they’re instant.
Is Venmo Available in Europe?
You can’t use Venmo in Europe, EEA, or EU countries.
Revolut, N26, and Wise are the most popular digital banks there.
Money-transferring services like Remitly, TransferGo, WorldRemit, Paysend, and others are excellent choices.
Is Venmo Available in Mexico?
Venmo isn’t available in Mexico, the US’s southern neighbor.
It might work if you already have a Venmo account and you traveled to Mexico.
If not, it won’t work as it’s only available to the folks that live in the US.
Mexico has many other great alternatives, though.
Is Venmo Available in Canada?
Canada is a close US neighbor, but there’s no Venmo, as it’s only available south of the border.
There are plenty of other Venmo alternatives, one of which is the attractive digital bank, Koho.
Is Venmo Available in the UK?
Unfortunately, Venmo isn’t available in the UK, and the rest of Europe. It’s a shame because it would probably be very popular there as well.
There are many other alternatives, like Starling, a digital bank that has free accounts. There are also Monzo, Monese, Wise, Wirex, Curve, and of course, Revolut.
Not to mention all the dedicated money transfer services already on our list that are also available in the UK.
Is Venmo Available in Australia?
There’s no Venmo in Australia as of now, but Beem it is a great app you can use to send and request money.
There are other apps that are also available, of course.
Is Venmo Available in Japan?
Unfortunately, Venmo isn’t available internationally, and so it’s not available in Japan as well.
There are many other apps that you can use in Japan.
Is Venmo Available in Hong Kong?
Venmo isn’t supported in Hong Kong, but the country has many other apps that you can use to send money, including Revolut, Wise, ZA Bank, etc.
Is Venmo Available in Brazil?
There’s no Venmo in Brazil, but the biggest digital bank in the world, Nubank, is.
The biggest neobank in the world rolled out its first product, a credit card, in 2014.
It was the only financial product they could launch as they couldn’t acquire a banking license in Brazil because the law barred foreign bank ownership.
Is Venmo Available in Argentina?
There isn’t Venmo in Argentina, but you can use Uala, Revolut, and other apps to send money internationally without the need for Venmo.
Is Venmo Available in Russia?
Russia is on all imaginable blacklists at the moment, and you can’t transfer money in or out of Russia. Also, Venmo was never available there.
Is Venmo Available in Nigeria?
Venmo doesn’t work in Nigeria and probably never will. There are many other options there.
Is Venmo Available in India?
Venmo doesn’t support India. There are many other choices in the Indian market, though. Some of them we mentioned in this article as well. Those are TransferGo, Wise, Remitly, WorldRemit, and Currencyfair.
