This post is part of Mashable’s Spark of Genius series, which highlights a unique feature of startups. The series is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark.. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here.
Name: Venmo
Quick Pitch: Venmo makes it easy and fun to spend money with your friends.
Genius Idea: When you’re out for after-work cocktails with co-workers and your friend picks up your tab because you’re out of cash, how do you pay him or her back? It’s a common conundrum that, in theory, is easy to solve with a check or a trip to the ATM, but the reality is much different. All too often, we forget to repay those generous friends simply because it’s too complicated.
Social payment startup Venmo was built with these scenarios in mind. This startup’s product makes the electronic exchange of money between friends both convenient and enjoyable.
On Venmo, once you connect your bank account and a credit card, you can seamlessly repay a friend via the web, iPhone, Andriod or SMS. You can even use the service to nudge those mooch friends of yours to pay you back.
The genius of Venmo is in the service’s subtle but significant distinctions from mobile payments competitors such as PayPal. One such feature is the Trust Request option, an additional layer of friendship allowing trusted friends to automatically recoup funds charged through the service.
With this extra layer of trust, Venmo really seems to understand the nature of human relationships. You may always trust Grandma to borrow $20 without asking, but you know that your buddy would abuse the privilege to buy himself some new sneakers.
Other standout extras include the ability to add your own flavorful commentary and publish payments openly to share the money exchanges with friends on Venmo, Twitter or Facebook.
Venmo is designed to be fun in nature, but their just-launched spin-off mobile application Gifi exponentially ups the fun factor. Gifi taps in to Venmo’s API (which will soon be released for developer use) and Foursquare’s API to turn mobile payments in to a game of hide and seek.
Basically, you use Gifi to leave hidden money gifts for your Foursquare friends. You select the venue, the gift amount and which friends are eligible to find it. The first person to checkin at the venue where you’ve stashed some secret cash will get it.
In practice, there really is no cooler way to make someone’s day then to leave them a gift of money at a coffee shop or bar you know they love to frequent. Talk about paying it forward.
Venmo is currently private to members, and CEO Andrew Kortina has no plans to change that — the only exception is that the startup might introduce a way for new members to join via Facebook or Foursquare. Right now, though, the service is set up so that new members must be invited by one of their friends, a structure Kortina feels ensures that each member is greeted by the socialness he intended when they sign up.
If you’d rather not wait on your social capital to net you an invite, then we suggest you snatch up one of Mashable’s invites. Frankly, we think you should; the service is as fun as it promises, and you might actually start paying your friends back. Go to the Venmo website and use the invite code “mash.” We have 100 invitations available.
Image courtesy of BluEyedA73, Flickr
Sponsored by Microsoft BizSpark
BizSpark is a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today.
Reviews: Facebook, Flickr, Foursquare, Mashable, Twitter
More About: finance, Financial, micropayments, social payments, spark-of-genius, startup, venmo
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