After 2 Years of Testing, Venmo Opens Payment Service to Public

I've managed to convince most of my circle of friends to sign up for and use Venmo, and I'm glad that I did. Makes splitting lunch bills, paying people for beer, collecting utilities from a roommate, splitting a cab, etc. so much easier. Cash feels terrifyingly archaic, credit cards only slightly less so. PayPal? Hah. What is this, 2004? Cashing out is quick and the iPhone app is great. Its simplicity is its strength.

"The company does not charge a transaction fee to people using its service to send each other money."

This was a good hook that cost them a lot of money. But it's changing to be more Dwolla-y...from an email I received a few days ago:

Until May 1st,

    You can continue using Venmo the way you do now.
    You can opt to switch to bank payments at any time by following a few simple steps. Click here to switch now.

Starting May 1st for you (and starting today for new users),

    To continue using Venmo for free, you must switch to bank payments.
    If you still want to use your credit card, you can set it as your funding source, but you will be charged 3% to cover credit card processing fees.

I wish I could use Venmo or a similar service for more than just paying my friends for bets I've lost... I'd love to use it to pay for public transit or a quick lunch. I was really excited when square's https://squareup.com/cardcase came out but then no one used it.