FINANCIAL WATCHDOG: Money Stored In Venmo, Other Payment Apps Could Be Vulnerable

NEW YORK (AP) — Customers of Venmo, PayPal and CashApp should not store their money for the long term with these apps since their funds may not be covered by deposit insurance, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau warned on Thursday.

The alert comes several weeks after the failure of Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank and First Republic Bank, where the banks experienced bank runs after fearful customers with uninsured deposits pulled their money en masse.

Money stored on a payment app is not being held in a traditional bank account.

So, if there is an event similar to a bank run with these payment apps, those funds may not be protected.