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Comment by matthewgrossman | Hacker News Reader

I recently had my venmo account terminated out of the blue, and this is the best explanation they could give me:

> We have systems in place that monitor activity on Venmo, but please note that we don't reveal information about our internal systems in order to keep these systems robust. However, I'd recommend looking over our User Agreement for information on our policies surrounding acceptable use and high risk activity.

> I apologize that we're no longer able to assist you.

Thankfully I was able withdraw my cash, but I've been telling everyone I know to be careful when dealing with venmo; you really can't trust them

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US Bancorp closed my checking account, because I used Zelle heavily. First, they terminated my Zelle; when I called the customer service, I was given two weeks to move my funds to another bank, as they gave a notice to close my account. This happened to another redditor too, who used Zelle frequently, and he banked with Union bank (in California), now owned by US Bank. US Bank closed his union bank account.

Banks don't want any risk whatsoever; they just want profitable customers. Frequent cash deposits, close the account; deposit money orders often, close the account; use zelle heavily, close the darn account; you don't use the debit card to purchase stuff, close the account.

now that zelle has adoption I don't even know what venmo adds anyway

I still use the old paypal for juggling payment methods, like when I leave a credit card at a bar and cancel it, I don't have to punch in a new one everywhere, just paypal.

but cash transfers to people have been bank to bank anyway so no need for extra services there anymore.

I can never get zelle to actually work. I get into some endless loop of email validation and can’t actually send anything.

take it up with your bank i guess? been using them for years with my bank regularly

“It’s not our fault” is on brand for malfunctions of all modern tech conveniences.

be careful with Zelle, if you send to the wrong person / get scammed, there's no way you're getting that money back. With Venmo / PayPal, you have a much better shot.

https://www.aura.com/learn/zelle-scams / https://assets-global.website-files.com/6082ee0e95eb6459d78f...

haha thanks for the warning but I guess that's something that's never crossed the mind of the crypto crowd for example... pretty refreshing to see someone worrying about the details

What sort of account activity of yours was suspicious to them, do you think?

Here’s an example: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33410044

Seems that Venmo thinks they should be enforcing sanctions against Cuban restaurants in the US.

I could also believe that something dumb my friend or I said was flagged by their systems. Unfortunately they won't talk to me, let me explain any transactions, or give any hints about which transaction caused the ban ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. I've never had any warnings either; straight to permabanned.

Salt in the wounds was watching John Mulaney's bit on venmo[1] the next week

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBpDvCu8yYI

My theory (which I included in my emails) was that I was receiving funds from people I hadn't transacted with before. For my wedding, I had requested money for a "housing fund", and many friends/cousins/parents'-friends/etc were gifting via venmo

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