Personal Finance Tips

How to cancel a Venmo payment? (2024 Guide)

Adam Rozsa

07.02.23 (updated more than 1 year ago)

Read time 2 minutes

In this helpful guide, we’ll run through everything you need to know about how to cancel a Venmo payment. This includes whether it’s possible, and other solutions for getting your money back.

Remember, if you want to make an international payment outside the US, you’ll need to find an alternative, as Venmo cannot be used to send money abroad.

For this - Wise is the perfect solution, letting you send money worldwide in just a few clicks. You’ll only pay low, transparent fees¹, and you’ll always get the fair mid-market exchange rate - more on this, later.

Why you might want to cancel a Venmo payment

There are lots of reasons you might want to cancel a payment made through Venmo. Here are just a few of the most common:

You made a payment to an inactive account
You paid the wrong person
You made a mistake when setting up the payment (for example, you entered the wrong amount or incorrect reference)
You made a duplicate payment.

Is it possible to cancel a Venmo payment?

Unfortunately, you can’t cancel a Venmo payment once it’s been sent. One of the reasons the platform is so popular is the speed that payments are made. Once you hit ‘send’, the payment arrives in the recipient’s Venmo account and the funds are available to them right away³.

But if you’ve made a mistake with a Venmo payment, don’t panic. Just because you can’t cancel it, this doesn’t necessarily mean it’s gone forever. There are a few routes you can try to get your money back, which we’ll look at next.

What to do if you can’t cancel a payment

Venmo payments can’t be reversed, but there are some things you can try to retrieve the funds. Let’s run through a few of your options…

Ask for your money back

If you know the recipient, asking them to return the payment should be no problem. But what if you’ve sent money via Venmo to a business or someone you don’t know? It’s still worth politely explaining the situation and asking them to send you a payment for the same amount.

Use the Venmo ‘Pay or Request’ function

You can also make a request for a return payment using the Venmo ‘Pay or Request’ button on the Venmo app. Follow these steps⁴:

Select ‘Pay or Request’
Enter the username of the account you mistakenly sent money to
Provide a short note explaining why you’re requesting the money
Tap in the amount you originally sent
Select ‘Request’ and confirm.

You can also send reminders at a later date.

Contact Venmo support

If the recipient won’t send your money back, you can try contacting Venmo’s customer services team for help.

Venmo doesn’t guarantee they can retrieve your money, but they’ll do all they can to resolve the situation. To contact customer services, go to the Venmo Support hub and submit a ticket.

Want to send money internationally? Try Wise

Venmo doesn’t currently support international payments⁵. So if you want to send money abroad, check out Wise instead. The Wise multi-currency account lets you send money all over the world, in just a few taps.

You only pay a small, transparent transfer fee, and will always get the mid-market exchange rate. This means more of your money arrives in your recipient’s account.

Use your new Wise account to send, spend, receive and convert between multiple currencies. It’s quick and easy to register for an account, and you can manage everything online or through the handy Wise app.

Get a Wise Account today

After reading this, you should have a better idea of your options if you make a mistake with a Venmo payment. There isn’t a cancel button to undo the payment, but you may still be able to get your money back. Good luck!

Sources used for this article:

PayPal Newsroom - Consumers are more likely to complete a purchase with Venmo
Please see Terms of Use for your region or visit Wise Fees & Pricing: Only Pay for What You Use for the most up-to-date pricing and fee information.
Venmo Help Center - Cancel Payment
Stilt - How to cancel a Venmo payment
Monito - Venmo international money transfer alternatives

Sources checked on 11-Jan-2023.

*Please see terms of use and product availability for your region or visit Wise fees and pricing for the most up to date pricing and fee information.

This publication is provided for general information purposes and does not constitute legal, tax or other professional advice from Wise Payments Limited or its subsidiaries and its affiliates, and it is not intended as a substitute for obtaining advice from a financial advisor or any other professional.

We make no representations, warranties or guarantees, whether expressed or implied, that the content in the publication is accurate, complete or up to date.