Venmo setup

Updated Oct 14, 2026 Payments

Venmo in TitanCart is a way for US shoppers paying in US dollars to pay from their Venmo balance, bank or card. Under the hood it is a funding source of PayPal: the money lands in your PayPal Business account, it uses the same app credentials as your PayPal gateway, and refunds go back through PayPal. On your side it is its own gateway row, so orders, transactions, refunds and reports all say “Venmo”, never “PayPal”.

Edition note: Venmo is a TitanCart Pro gateway. TitanCart Lite ships Stripe, Cash on Delivery, Bank Transfer and Check.

1. Before you start

A PayPal Business account and a REST API app, exactly as in PayPal setup §1. Venmo needs no separate Venmo business account and no extra approval from PayPal.
Shoppers see the Venmo button only when PayPal judges them eligible: a US buyer, paying in USD. Everyone else sees a short “Venmo is not available” note in its place, and the rest of checkout works as normal.
Venmo cannot be used on a cart that contains a subscription product: it never saves a payment method for renewals, so TitanCart keeps it off those carts.

2. Add the Venmo gateway

Go to Settings → Payment Gateways → + Add Payment Gateway.
On the General tab choose the Venmo gateway, give it the name shoppers will see (“Venmo”), an optional Description and Payment instructions, set Status to Active and save.
Reopen it. On the Configure tab (it appears after the first save) fill in:
- Client ID and Client Secret — the same values as your PayPal gateway, from developer.paypal.com → Apps & Credentials.
- Sandbox Mode — on by default. While it is on, payments go through PayPal’s sandbox and the Venmo button is simulated with a Venmo web login. Turn it off for production, where desktop shoppers see a Venmo QR code and phones switch to the Venmo app.
- Send Shipping Address to PayPal — on (default), an order that ships sends the customer’s shipping address with the Venmo order, which PayPal uses for Seller Protection on physical goods; off sends none.
- Button Color — Venmo blue, Black or White, to suit your checkout.
Click Test Connection. It performs the same handshake as the PayPal gateway and tells you in words whether the SANDBOX or LIVE environment answered.

Keep your PayPal gateway too: Venmo does not replace it, and shoppers outside the US need PayPal or a card.

3. What the shopper sees

At the payment step the shopper picks Venmo. The usual Place Order button is replaced by a Venmo button drawn by PayPal’s script.
Clicking it places the order in TitanCart (same checks as any other order) and opens Venmo: on a phone the Venmo app, on a desktop a QR code to scan with the phone, in sandbox a Venmo web login.
When the shopper approves, TitanCart captures the payment immediately, marks the order Processing, reduces stock, empties the cart, burns any coupon, issues any digital gift card and sends the confirmation and new-order emails — on the verified capture, never before.
The shopper lands on the order-received page.

If the shopper closes the Venmo sheet or taps cancel, they stay on checkout with their cart intact and a short notice; the order remains Pending, nothing is charged, and it is cancelled automatically by Settings → General Settings → Order Automation after the configured hours (24 by default).

4. Test in the sandbox

PayPal does not provide Venmo test buyers. In Sandbox Mode the Venmo button opens a Venmo web login that accepts a PayPal sandbox buyer (Developer Dashboard → Testing Tools → Sandbox Accounts, a personal account); a real Venmo login will not work there. Approve, and the order should reach Processing with the payment logged under Venmo. Then switch to live keys, untick Sandbox Mode, run Test Connection and read “LIVE”, and place one small real order from a phone with the Venmo app.

5. Refunds and reports

Refund from the order in Sales → Orders, in full or in part; TitanCart sends it to PayPal against the captured Venmo payment and records it on the order. Everywhere in TitanCart the payment is labelled Venmo. In PayPal’s own Activity the transaction appears as a PayPal payment with the description “Order TC-…”, which is the way to find it there.

Limitations

US and USD only. That is PayPal’s rule for Venmo, not a TitanCart setting; the button hides itself for everyone else.
No subscriptions. Venmo never saves a payment method, so it is not offered on carts with a subscription product.
Marketplace stores: if the TitanCart Marketplace extension is active, its own checkout page does not yet draw the Venmo button, so Venmo shows as a choice that cannot complete. Leave the Venmo gateway disabled on a marketplace store until that is closed.

How to verify on PayPal’s side

Sign in to paypal.com → Activity (sandbox: sandbox.paypal.com as the sandbox business account) and search by the order number, amount or date; the detail page shows the capture, PayPal’s fee and any refund. TitanCart’s order page shows the payment method name only.

Troubleshooting

The Venmo button never appears, only “Venmo is not available”. The shopper is outside the US or the cart is not in USD; PayPal’s script decides eligibility, and in Sandbox Mode TitanCart tells it the buyer is in the US so you can test from anywhere.
The gateway shows NEEDS SETUP. The Client ID or Secret is empty on the Configure tab.
“PayPal order creation failed” when the button is clicked. The keys are wrong, or sandbox keys are saved with Sandbox Mode off (or live keys with it on). Fix, save, Test Connection.
Venmo is missing from a subscription checkout. By design — see Limitations.
The shopper approved in Venmo but the order is still Pending. The capture runs the moment Venmo returns to the checkout page; if the browser was closed at that instant, nothing was captured and Order Automation will cancel the order. Ask them to order again.