Abstract

The case “Venmo: A Mobile Payment Service Targeted at Millennials in the US” talks about the factors that led to United States (US)-based mobile payment service company Venmo, LLC (Venmo) achieving success over a period of nine years. The case starts with a brief history of Venmo. It then describes the innovative products and services launched by the company, which helped it to connect with millennials. It also highlights the stiff competition that Venmo faced from other major mobile payments service players. The case ends with the future plans of the company which include partnering with more merchants in the US and expanding its services in the UK.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• Understand the customer driven marketing strategy of a mobile payment service company.
• Analyze the business plan of a mobile payment service company aimed at achieving rapid growth.
• Identify the strategies used by a mobile payment service company to achieve competitive advantage through differentiation.
• Analyze the role played by technology in enabling a mobile payment service company to offer unique products and services.
• Examine the challenges faced by a company with a unique business model.

Keywords

Mobile Payment; peer-to-peer payments; Millennials; Braintree Payment Solutions; PayPal; API; Emojis; Debit Card; Money Transfer; Zelle; Google Wallet; digital payments; Google Pay; Social Media; Financial Inclusion