The P2P Platform Startup That Wants To Pick Up Where Venmo Leaves Off

Vouchr co-founders, Robert Balahura and Suresh Bhat, say there’s a lot of noise in the P2P payments space and a lot of players making that noise. Apps like Square Cash, Snapcash, Messenger, Venmo and newcomer Zelle are all in the business of making the process of sending money between friends easier

But what Balahura and Bhat set out to do in 2014 is to do for any payments app what Venmo has already done – make P2P payments possible – and social, but with a twist.

This Toronto-based FinTech has created a software development kit (SDK) that any payment platform can implement to add fun features, including social engagement and gamification, to the act of sending money to others. Users can send notes, stickers, selfies or videos along with funds, invite a friend out to drinks again soon even as you pay him back for last night’s round, or geo-lock a transfer so that the recipient has to go somewhere specific in order to receive their cash.

The advantage, they say, is to make the social interactions made possible by Vouchr more personal, focused only on the people involved in the transfer of funds than the entire network of friends that they share.

Surpriise is the first consumer app using Vouchr’s SDK to power a social, fun and engaging gift card and money transfer experience.

PYMNTS last checked in with Vouchr in January 2016, and since then, it’s been making tracks to connect with some of the largest banks and financial institutions in North America, to be announced later this summer.