The Venmo Credit Card has changed how it pays, and the date that decides which version you get is September 24, 2026. Approvals after that date earn on fixed categories. Approvals before it keep the card as it was.
The old structure was the card's whole pitch. It looked at your spending each statement period, paid 3% on whichever category you spent the most in, 2% on the second, and 1% on everything else. You never picked, and you never had to.
The new one is a different card in the same plastic.
What new cardholders get
Venmo's own rewards page sets it out for anyone approved after September 24, 2026:
- 3% on dining and entertainment, plus another 1% on those purchases when you split the bill on Venmo and a friend pays you back their share.
- 3% when you check out with Venmo in other apps and online.
- 1% on everything else.
There's still no annual fee. That part hasn't moved.
The split-the-bill mechanic is the interesting one. It only applies to the dining and entertainment spend, and it only pays when everyone you split with pays you back within 30 days.
What existing cardholders keep
If you were approved before September 24, 2026, nothing changes for now. You keep 3% on your top spend category, 2% on your second, and 1% on the rest, worked out fresh each statement period.
That's worth knowing before you close the card or apply for a second one. The old structure is not on offer to new applicants, so an account you already hold is the only way to have it.
Which is better depends on how concentrated your spending is
The old version rewarded whatever you happened to spend most on. If your biggest category was groceries one month and travel the next, the card followed you. That flexibility was the reason to carry it, and it's what the new structure removes.
The new version rewards a narrower set of behavior: eating out, going out, and paying through Venmo rather than tapping a card. If that's already how you spend, the headline rate is the same 3% and the split bonus is genuinely new money.
If it isn't, you've gone from a card that paid 3% on your largest category, whatever it was, to a card that pays 1% on it. For someone whose spending runs to groceries, gas or bills, that's a real reduction dressed as a refresh.
The checkout rate is the one to think hardest about
The 3% for checking out with Venmo is a rate you earn by changing how you pay rather than what you buy. It's easy at merchants that offer Venmo as a checkout option, and it does nothing at the ones that don't.
So the honest question before applying is how much of your online spending already runs through places that take Venmo. If the answer is most of it, this is a straightforward 3% online card with a dining bonus attached. If the answer is almost none of it, two of the three earning lines are doing nothing for you and the card is a 1% card with a restaurant rate.
That's a question about your own checkout history rather than about the card, and it's worth ten minutes with a statement before you apply.
What to do about it
If you hold the card already, keep it and keep using it the way you were. There's nothing to act on, and the account is the only place the old structure still exists.
If you're applying now, treat it as a dining and Venmo-checkout card rather than a flexible one, and compare it on those terms. The card that best matched what Venmo just dropped, the Citi Custom Cash, picks your top eligible category each cycle, but Citi stopped accepting applications for it on May 28, 2026. If you'd rather the spend earned transferable points than cash, our guide to the best everyday spending cards covers those.
Sources
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