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Companies change their terms without announcing it. We capture governance documents, compare each new version with the last, and publish what changed, with the source text behind it. One email a week on what we found and what we could not reach.
This page describes what the document states, permits, or reserves. It does not constitute a legal determination about enforceability. Regulatory applicability may vary by jurisdiction. Methodology
“Hold money in your Venmo account for up to 180 days if reasonably needed to protect against the risk of liability or if you or any Teen User has have violated our Acceptable Use Policy”
“PayPal is required to report to the Internal Revenue Service the total amount of payments for goods and services you receive each calendar year...once you receive at least $600 in payments for goods and services”
“Our liability to you or any third parties in any circumstance is limited to the actual amount of direct damages.”
“In no event shall PayPal be liable for lost profits or any special, incidental or consequential damages...arising out of or in connection with our websites, software, systems...or this user agreement (however arising, including negligence)”
“Except for commercial transactions expressly authorized by Venmo, for example, transactions with authorized merchants or business profiles, purchases made using your Venmo Mastercard®, or transactions that are identified as payments for goods and services, personal accounts and Teen Accounts may not be used to conduct business, commercial or merchant transactions with other personal accounts or Teen Accounts, which includes paying or accepting payment from other personal accounts or Teen Accounts held by users you do not personally know for goods or services”
“Any activity conducted by a Teen User in connection with the Teen Account or the Venmo services is treated as your activity under this user agreement, and you will be responsible for all such activity.”
This agreement sets out the rules for using Venmo, including a requirement that disputes with PayPal be resolved through binding arbitration rather than in court—unless you opt out within 30 days of first signing up. Venmo can freeze your funds for up to 180 days if it determines there is a liability risk or if any Teen User linked to your account breaks the rules. You cannot use a personal Venmo account for business transactions, and if you receive $600 or more for goods and services in a year, that income is reported to the IRS.
The Venmo User Agreement establishes the terms under which users may access Venmo's payment services, including a binding arbitration clause with class-action and jury-trial waivers that channel all disputes with PayPal into arbitration or small claims court, with a 30-day postmark window for new users to opt out. Venmo reserves the right to hold account funds for up to 180 days where reasonably needed to protect against liability risk or where the account owner or an associated Teen User has violated the Acceptable Use Policy. Personal and Teen Accounts are prohibited from conducting business, commercial, or merchant transactions, and the account owner bears full legal responsibility for all Teen User activity. PayPal's liability is capped at direct damages only, with explicit exclusion of lost profits and consequential damages, and users must indemnify PayPal against third-party claims arising from their breach of the agreement. Adverse changes to user rights or responsibilities require at least 21 days' advance notice, and payments for goods and services meeting or exceeding $600 in a calendar year are subject to IRS reporting by PayPal.
As a Venmo user, your most consequential exposure is to the binding arbitration requirement, which eliminates your ability to sue in standard court or join a class action—if you are a new user who wants to preserve those options, you must mail an opt-out notice postmarked within 30 days of first accepting the agreement. Your account funds can be held for up to 180 days if Venmo determines a hold is reasonably needed to protect against liability or if you or a Teen User linked to your account violates the Acceptable Use Policy—and you bear full responsibility for all Teen User activity regardless of whether you personally took that action. PayPal's liability to you is limited to your direct damages in any circumstance, and you are required to indemnify PayPal for reasonable legal fees arising from your breach of the agreement.
Which mapped governance frameworks each document engages, tied to the specific provisions that engage them.
We withheld clauses we had published from this document. Each withholding is recorded in our correction log:
“Hold money in your Venmo account for up to 180 days if reasonably needed to protect against the risk of liability or if you or any Teen User has have violated our Acceptable Use Policy”
“PayPal is required to report to the Internal Revenue Service the total amount of payments for goods and services you receive each calendar year...once you receive at least $600 in payments for goods and services”
“Our liability to you or any third parties in any circumstance is limited to the actual amount of direct damages.”
“In no event shall PayPal be liable for lost profits or any special, incidental or consequential damages...arising out of or in connection with our websites, software, systems...or this user agreement (however arising, including negligence)”
“Except for commercial transactions expressly authorized by Venmo, for example, transactions with authorized merchants or business profiles, purchases made using your Venmo Mastercard®, or transactions that are identified as payments for goods and services, personal accounts and Teen Accounts may …”
“Any activity conducted by a Teen User in connection with the Teen Account or the Venmo services is treated as your activity under this user agreement, and you will be responsible for all such activity.”
“You agree to defend, indemnify and hold PayPal harmless from any claim or demand (including reasonable legal fees) made or incurred by any third party due to or arising out of your breach of this user agreement...”
Every distinct legal provision identified in this document. Featured provisions appear above with analysis.
We have not recorded a change to this document since we began capturing it. Monitor includes alerts from a daily check, structured change summaries, and monitoring for up to 20 platforms.
Need provision-level monitoring and regulatory mapping? Insight includes governance timelines, drift analysis, and full provision tracking.
Cross-platform context
See how other platforms handle 180 Day Hold On Funds For Risk Or AUP Violation and similar clauses.
Compare across platforms →Governance Monitoring
Structured alerts for policy changes, governance events, and provision updates across 343 platforms.