PayPal Holdings (PYPL -1.67%), obviously not shy about extending the reach of its Venmo brand, announced Monday it is launching the inaugural Venmo credit card. The plastic will be issued by consumer credit card specialist Synchrony Financial (SYF 0.15%) and carry the Visa (V -1.70%) brand.
The move marks the first serious expansion of the Venmo name. Up until now, it has been purely a peer-to-peer payment system, in which people can pay typically small sums of money to one another quickly through the dedicated Venmo app.
Image source: PayPal Holdings.
As with nearly every other credit card that has been rolled out in the past few years, the Venmo credit card has a number of perks and inducements to tempt would-be borrowers. Cardholders receive cash-back rewards according to categories: Their "top spend" category earns 3%, while the No. 2 category returns up to 2%. All other purchases earn up to 1%.
The cash-back rewards do not expire, PayPal said, and they can also be used via the Venmo app for the system's traditional peer-to-peer payments.
The company added that the Visa-branded card has no annual fee, and incurs no foreign transaction fees.
The card is available for "select" current Venmo customers, who can apply for it through the latest version of the app. The application will be open for all Venmo users within the next few months, PayPal said. According to the company, Venmo's user base tops 60 million people.
"Venmo has become an integral part of the way our community spends, shares and manages their money, and the Venmo Credit Card represents yet another way we are expanding the capabilities of Venmo into people's everyday lives," PayPal quoted Venmo's general manager Darrell Esch as saying.
