As you start to have more guest bookings, you may start to find a need to pay other people more often. Cleaners, handymen, photographers, stagers…these are all people you may choose to employ to grow your listing attractiveness. 

And they can make your life easier as a co-host, too!

What’s the best way to pay them? In our digital age, people rarely cut checks anymore. But still, the plethora of online options can often leave you paralyzed with indecision. I mean, how do you choose what’s best when there are so many choices to consider?

Well, let me make your decision a little bit easier. I want to share with you my preferred app to pay independent vendors and contractors – Venmo

Venmo is a peer-to-peer payment app that has been around for close to 10 years now, although it’s only in the last 4 or 5 years that it has really skyrocketed in popularity. It’s now become one of the de-facto methods of payment between friends, family, and co-workers.

Why do so many people use Venmo?

Venmo has a lot of compelling pros to it.

  • Free to install and use with your bank account
  • It’s already quite popular, so your chances that someone will already have a Venmo account set up and ready to go is high
  • Simple and easy to use
  • Convenient
  • Available for both iOS and Android
  • You can both send a payment you owe or request money you’re due

But surely Venmo isn’t all good, right?

Of course, like anything, there are some cons to using Venmo, as well. 

  • Payments are ONLY processed through the mobile app, so if you don’t have a smart phone you won’t be able to use Venmo
  • Although it’s free to send payments through your bank account, there is a charge for using credit cards
  • Payments aren’t paid out until the next day, so there is a potential for fraud
  • It doesn’t work outside of the USA
  • By default your transactions are shared in your news feed with your network. This can be turned off, but I find this feature to be rather unprofessional. 

Despite its drawbacks, I’ve still found Venmo to be one of the easiest and best mobile funds transfer apps around. Give it a go and let me know what you think.

Are there other apps you use to pay people as needed? Tell us about them in the comments!