[saturdaysaint]

"The bank account vs. debit card is one time on setup - and has little to do with day to day interaction. Not do I see how the UI is obtuse - it takes 3 clicks to pay someone."

I like Venmo, but I vehemently disagree here. Every time I recommend Venmo to someone who hasn't heard of it, I have to explain why they should give their banking information to a company they've never heard of. It's an onboarding disaster. I recommend Google Wallet to most people now since it's both a trusted name and doesn't require linking to a bank. My conversation is usually as simple as "Hey download Google Wallet - it's an easy way to zap money between people - and send me $x".

[Yomammas_Lemma]

Also, if your Venmo account gets compromised, it's a fucking nightmare. I think this slate article summed up most reasonable persons' concerns pretty fairly:

http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/safety_net/2015/02/...