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  • Updated: 02 Oct 2024
  • 4 Min Read

Venmo App vs Baselane: Which Rent Collection App is Better?

When it comes to collecting rent, two popular choices are Venmo and Baselane. How do these two apps stack up, and which is best for rent collection? This article has everything you need to know to make a decision between Venmo and Baselane.

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Key Takeaways

  • Venmo is a popular payment platform for sending and receiving money with friends and family.
  • Baselane offers integrated rent collection features, including automated invoices, built-in banking, and tenant portals.
  • Baselane automates payment reminders and late fees, which Venmo doesn’t offer.

Baselane Overview

Baselane is an all-in-one banking and finance platform built for landlords and real estate investors. With Baselane, you get integrated online banking, rent collection, bookkeeping, and more—all in one place for $0 per month.

Tenants can pay by ACH or card from any device and easily set up auto-pay. Besides online rent payments, Baselane can collect security deposits and other one-time or recurring fees.

Unlike Venmo, Baselane automatically tracks payment history and charges late fees for overdue rent. Plus, payments are deposited directly into your bank account in 2-5 days instead of manually transferring money from your Venmo.

Baselane Key Features

  • Free online rent collection for landlords via ACH or card
  • Automated invoices, rent reminders, and late fees
  • Payment history and tracking
  • Real-time payment notifications and tracking
  • Integrated banking and bookkeeping
  • Automated income and expense tracking
  • Cash flow analytics by property or portfolio

Baselane Pricing

baselane is free

Baselane Pros and Cons

Pros

  • Secure tenant portal to pay rent and view previous payments
  • Fast payouts in 2-5 days
  • Option to add additional fees (pet fee, etc.)
  • Tenant auto-pay
  • High payment limits
  • User-friendly for landlords and tenants

Cons

  • No feature for tenant communication (coming soon)
  • No mobile app (coming soon)

Venmo Overview

Venmo is a mobile payment service that allows users to send and receive money using a smartphone app. It can be a convenient way to collect rent payments if you only own one or two properties.

While money appears in your Venmo wallet instantly, you’ll have to manually transfer funds to your bank account. It can take one to three business days for the rent amount to make its way to your bank account. You can pay a 1.75% processing fee (between $0.25 and $25) for an instant transfer.

Venmo Key Features

  • Easy sign-up process
  • Split group payments in one app
  • Pay with Venmo in apps and online
  • Payments deposited into Venmo wallet (must manually transfer to bank account)
  • Get paid up to two days early with direct deposit
  • Instant transfers between Venmo and bank accounts (1.75% fee)
  • Send and request money from tenants added as ‘Venmo friends’

Venmo Pricing

A fee schedule displays various charges for a financial service, including no monthly fee, per purchase, customer service, inactivity, and ATM balance inquiry costs. ATM withdrawal fees in-network are $2.50, and out-of-network fees apply. Sending money costs 3% if using a credit card.

Venmo Pros and Cons

Pros

  • Easily split and payments
  • Request money in just a few taps
  • Free transfers from Venmo to a linked bank account (1-3 days)
  • No fees for using direct deposit

Cons

  • Can’t automatically collect rent with Venmo (must request money from tenants)
  • Requires manual transfers between Venmo and linked bank account
  • Fees for adding money to a Venmo account (1- 5%)

Venmo vs. Baselane

BaselaneVenmo
Rent Collection
Collect Rent Directly into Bank Account✔❌
Recurring Invoices✔❌
Automated Late Fees & Reminders✔❌
Fast Payments: 2-5 Days✔✔
Payment History & Tracking✔❌
Dedicated Tenant Portal✔❌
Flexible Tenant Payment Options✔✔
Tenant Auto-Pay✔❌
Banking
Unlimited Accounts Per Entity✔❌
APY InterestUp to 3.77% APY2 ❌
Cash Back on Debit CardsUp to 5%3 ❌
FDIC Insurance$3M via Thread Bank1 ❌
Virtual Cards & Spend Controls✔❌
ACH, Wires & Mailed Checks✔❌
Recurring Payments & Transfers✔❌
Accounting & Bookkeeping
Property & Unit Level Tagging✔ ❌
120 Real Estate Specific Income & Expense Categories✔ ❌
Quickbooks Integration✔ ❌
Schedule E Reporting✔ ❌
Receipt Capture✔ ❌
Auto-Generated Tax & Financial Reports✔ ❌
Real-Time Cash Flow Insights✔ ❌

How to choose the best rent collection app?

Know what features to look for when choosing a rent collection app.

Read blog

Final Thoughts: Venmo vs. Baselane

While Venmo is easy and convenient when splitting a restaurant check among friends, it’s not exactly built for real estate investors. Baselane, on the other hand, is an all-in-one finance platform built for real estate investors. You can automate rent payments, reminders, and fees with the perks of built-in banking and bookkeeping to help you keep track of every dollar without all of the busywork.

Learn why landlords choose Baselane for rent collection.

FAQs

Baselane is an all-in-one financial platform for landlords, property managers, and real estate investors.

Baselane features:

If that weren’t enough, the Baselane Marketplace offers products all income property owners need, such as property insurance, tenant screening, loans, tax preparation, and legal assistance.

Yes. Venmo can be used to pay rent, but it’s not what it’s designed for.

Every online rent payment must be sent by a tenant or requested by a landlord.

There is no option for automatic, recurring monthly payments. Plus, Venmo doesn’t send reminders, so it’s harder to track payments.

Sending rent to the wrong person in Venmo isn’t an easy fix either. It’s usually impossible to get the money back.

Yes. While you can use Venmo for rent collection, it’s really only meant for transferring money between friends and family. Unless you have great tenants who always pay rent on time, you’ll have to request rent every month.

Once you collect rent payments into a Venmo digital wallet, you then have to transfer the money into a bank account, which takes 1-3 business days or 30 minutes if you’re willing to pay a 1.75% fee.

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© 2024, Skylight Financial Services Inc. (Baselane). All Rights Reserved.
Baselane is a financial technology company and is not a bank. Banking services provided by Thread Bank, Member FDIC. FDIC insurance is available for funds on deposit through Thread Bank, Member FDIC. The Baselane Visa Debit Card is issued by Thread Bank, pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc. and may be used everywhere Visa is accepted.

1Your deposits qualify for up to $3,000,000 in FDIC insurance coverage when placed at program banks in the Thread Bank deposit sweep program. Your deposits at each program bank become eligible for FDIC insurance up to $250,000 , inclusive of any other deposits you may already hold at the bank in the same ownership capacity. You can access the terms and conditions of the sweep program at https://go.thread.bank/sweepdisclosure and a list of program banks at https://go.thread.bank/programbanks. Please contact customerservice@thread.bank with questions on the sweep program.

2The Annual Percentage Yield (APY) on your Savings Account is accurate as of 04/05/23. Total balances across Checking Accounts and Savings Accounts are used to calculate APY tier, but only money in Savings Accounts is eligible for interest. Total balances less than $10,000 earn 1.75% APY for Savings Accounts. Total balances between $10,000 and $24,999 earn 2.64% APY for Savings Accounts. Total Balances between $25,000 and $49,999 earn 3.06% APY for Savings Accounts. Total balances of $50,000 or more earn 3.77% APY for Savings Account. These are variable rates and are subject to change based on the target range of the Federal Funds rate. There are no minimum balances or minimum deposits required to earn interest on your Savings Account. Review the Baselane Business Deposit Account Agreement for more information.

3Cash back is credited once per month for all rewards above 1% and credited to your account with a maximum of $2,000 annual spend per calendar year. 1% cash back is credited instantly following purchase with no maximum spend. No minimum spend applies. Terms and conditions apply.

4Some states require an interest-bearing escrow account for security deposits while some don’t require interest. User is responsible to check state laws along with rules for collecting and reimbursing a refundable security deposit. A brief overview of security deposit laws for escrow accounts in all 50 states can be found here.

*All testimonials, reviews, opinions or case studies presented on our website may not be indicative of all customers. Results may vary and customers agree to proceed at their own risk.

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