PayPal says US consumer watchdog opened investigation into Venmo

PayPal Holdings said on Friday it was cooperating with a civil investigative demand from the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau it had received in relation to its Venmo app’s alleged unauthorized fund transfers and collections processes.

The demand from the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was made last month, the digital payment processor said in a regulatory filing.

Venmo is a popular mobile app for person-to-person payments in the United States.

It was a part of PayPal's $800m acquisition of Braintree in 2031.

Venmo, which was founded in 2009, allowed users to pay each other without having to exchange cash or write a cheque. The app employed peer-to-peer technology to send money online, but it wasn’t a holding account, with users needing to connect a debit or credit card to the app.