src: https://venmo.com/legal/us-privacy-policy
I mean it makes perfect sense, they want to know you have enough money to start transfers.
And the ability to do X doesn’t mean they’re doing X, It sounds like they might be tracking transfers related to Venmo, but their being honest and admitting that same power allows them much more access.
AFAIK they’re using Plaid, and nothing here is an unusual application of Plaid
"The types of information we collect from your financial institutions may include, but are not limited to:
Account information, including financial institution name, account name, account type, and account and routing number;
Information about an account balance, including current and available balance;
Information about credit accounts, including statement due dates and balances owed, payment amounts and dates, transaction history, and interest;
Information about loan accounts, including due dates, balances, payment amounts and dates, interest, loan type, payment plan, and term;
Information about the account owner(s), including name, email address, phone number, and address information.
Information about account transactions, including amount, date, type, and a description of the transaction."
Another part is they’re not going to tailor the terms of service per usecase, they’ll list everything they can do, then narrow it down per application
They don't have to _collect_ it. They can say that we have access to it but will only collect it when you use a related product.
The types of information we collect from your financial institutions _may include_, but are not limited to
Venmo is what Americans use for small transfers because the US banking system is ridiculously antiquated and still revolves around paper cheque’s if you want to make a transfer from one bank to another?
That phrase doesn’t mean much to someone outside the US. I looked it up, it’s a thing owned by some US banks (and thus only available to those banks customers? That part isn’t clear).
Being better than venmo doesn’t mean much either - in other countries interbank transfers are just something you do via your bank - no third party involved.