Venmo’s biggest changes over the years come at a very interesting time

Venmo is rolling out a major redesign in the coming months aimed at making the app more user-friendly, social, and easier to navigate. This is a major update of the peer-to-peer payment app from 2021.

Time is remarkable. PayPal, which owns Venmo, is restructuring to spin off Venmo as an independent business unit — a move widely seen as laying the groundwork for a potential sale. Stripe has reportedly expressed interest in buying PayPal outright. In that context, a glossy redesign looks less like a general update and more like a pre-work window repair job.

The rollout will begin this week, followed by additional features over the next few months. By the time fall arrives, the entire redesign is expected to be available to all users.

One of the first changes users will see starting this week is an improved feed. Where it once showed a simple list of who paid – with GIFs, a heart button, and comments – the new feed will have a wider variety of visuals and larger images, as well as more ways to respond to payments, such as reactions and quick action buttons like “Pay Again” and “Say Thank You.” It will also be more personal, featuring personalized cashback offers from brands you shop at and product recommendations based on previous purchases.

Another addition is the ability for users to recommend their favorite local businesses directly through the app. A new “Make a Shoutout” button will be available under the payments on the feed.

As Alexis Sowa, vice president and general manager of Venmo, explained to TechCrunch, “One of the things we hear a lot, especially from Gen Z and younger audiences, is a genuine desire to support and endorse local businesses or merchants that they love. Up, it’s almost like, ‘I’m going to you.’

Two new tabs, “Send” and “Money,” will also be introduced in the next few months. In the Send feed, your most common contacts now appear as a row of profile icons front and center, instead of requiring you to dig up past contacts or usernames. The “Groups” bill splitting feature is now easier to access, too, allowing users to split costs with up to 30 people. You can also send gifts to friends and arrange payments in the Send section.

The Money tab, on the other hand, is where you can manage your expenses and access New Accounts and Crypto.

There will also be a new Rewards tab that pulls all limited-time offers into one place. That’s also where Venmo’s Stash program will live. Launched last November, this gives users up to 5% cash back when they shop for their favorite products on the app, with money deposited directly to their Venmo Mastercard Debit card.

Sowa said the redesign came from a year of user research, and said one of the biggest findings was how many features people didn’t know about. “One of the big ideas is how many features and functions we have that [customers] I have no knowledge of the application,” he said.

The update reflects a broader trend in what younger users expect from payment systems – a less useful tool, a social platform. For example, apps like Verse and Daylight offer features that allow users to keep up with their friends’ spending behavior, and European fintech app Revolut offers features like group bill splitting and in-app chat.

Venmo’s core audience increasingly wants to see and share financial activity as they would on any other feed, and the app is clearly trying to meet those expectations before a new owner comes knocking.