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Sending cash with birthday cards in the mail is risky, but now Hallmark Cards Inc.’s service with Venmo makes it easier and presumably safer. The new Hallmark + Venmo line of cards includes a QR code inside the card that recipients scan to receive the funds to their Venmo accounts.
Revealed Wednesday, the cards are available for birthdays, weddings, holidays, and other occasions. Purchasers select a card and choose the amount to load. The recipient can leave the money in her Venmo account or move it to a bank account or debit card. Cards start at $4.99.
“Gifting trends are constantly evolving, and we want to stay at the forefront of what consumers need to share thoughtful and unique gifts with the ones they love,” Darren Abbott, Hallmark senior vice president of global product development and innovation, says in a statement.
Venmo, which is owned by PayPal Holdings Inc., says 78% of Venmo users—based on a survey of 2,000 Venmo customers—rely on the service to regularly send money as a gift to their friends and family members. Venmo primarily is a P2P payments service.
In related news, the Zelle peer-to-peer payments network reported 705 million transactions worth $197 billion for its June quarter, up 10% and 9%, respectively, over the first quarter of the year.
As the P2P payments service matures—it launched in 2017—its penetration among banks as grown and Zelle says more than 2,100 banks and credit unions offer it. They represent more than 80% of U.S. deposit accounts.
Zelle, which is owned by Early Warning Services LLC, also touted its growth among minority-owned depository institutions. Year-over-year the number of such banks in the Zelle network increased 26%.
Zelle also boosted its standards and education efforts with Risk Insights for Zelle, a free service each financial institution must enroll in. It can help identify potentially high-risk transactions. It also works with the Better Business Bureau and its Corporate Trust Council, and the National Council on Aging, on education programs.
Additionally, as of June 30, Zelle implemented a reimbursement program for some scams. “Our bank and credit union participants must reimburse consumers for qualifying imposter scams, such as when a scammer impersonates a bank to trick a consumer into sending them money with Zelle. The change ensures consistency across our network and goes beyond legal requirements. To avoid tipping off fraudsters, no additional details will be shared,” an Early Warning spokesperson says in an email to Digital Transactions News.
Early Warning is also the network behind the nascent Paze digital wallet, which is backed by the seven major banks that own EWS: Bank of America, Capital One, JPMorgan Chase, PNC Bank, Truist, U.S. Bank and Wells Fargo.
