American Express Send & Split: Should You Use It for Venmo and PayPal?

Do you have friends who constantly want to send you money on popular payment apps like Venmo and PayPal? And does the idea of putting your banking information on one of these apps make you uneasy?

If you have an American Express credit card, you may have a solution that makes everyone happy.

American Express Send & Split was created in partnership with Venmo and PayPal to help with this type of situation.

Marketed as a “peer-to-peer” payment option, this AmEx perk allows select cardholders to use their credit card to send money via those payment apps without credit card fees. It also allows them to pay with their AmEx and get paid back by friends and family.

In this article, we’ll take a deeper look at what this product offers, how it works and some pros and cons.

---

Table of Contents

• What Is American Express Send & Split?
• How Does It Work?
• Pros and Cons

---

What Is American Express Send & Split?

American Express defines Send & Split as a cardholder tool that “allows you to send money to and split purchases with friends and family who have Venmo or PayPal accounts right from the American Express App.”

It does not require that you share your credit card number or any banking information with the payment processing apps.

This is done by enrolling for two distinct features, which as you may have guessed, are called: “Send” and “Split.”

Here’s a quick breakdown of each feature.

AmEx Spend Account

Enrolling for an AmEx Spend Account via the AmEx app allows you to use your American Express card to send money to other U.S. Venmo and PayPal users.

This peer-to-peer transaction is completed as a charge to your credit card, but it is NOT subject to the standard Venmo or PayPal credit card fee.

This is not considered a cash advance, so you’re not subject to those fees either.

Instead, it is a charge to your AmEx card that is added to your billing statement and can be paid off like other transactions with the card. (Note: These charges are subject to the card’s APR on balances and do not accrue rewards.)

AmEx Split

This feature allows you to pay for a purchase on behalf of a group and then collect funds from individuals via PayPal or Venmo.

AmEx cardholders will see an option to “Split It” when looking at your pending or posted charges on the American Express app.

This could be particularly useful for group outings, such as a dinner with family and friends.

When you’re paid back, it goes directly toward the bill as a statement credit to your account.

And the benefit for AmEx cardholders who pay this way is that they can collect any potential rewards for that purchase and then accurately split the cost down to the penny between multiple PayPal or Venmo users.

---

How Does It Work?

Now that you know what American Express Send & Split is, you may be wondering how to start using it.

I have the Blue Cash Preferred® from American Express in my wallet, so I decided to check the process for setting up Send & Split via the AmEx app.

Setting Up an Amex Spend Account

To use Send & Split, you must first enroll in the American Express app and then link your Venmo and/or PayPal account.

You can do this by going to the “Account” tab at the bottom of the app menu and then finding “Send & Split: Venmo/PayPal” under the “Payment Tools” menu.

Once you arrive here, AmEx will ask you to click “Enroll.” You’ll encounter some fine print, which includes you giving AmEx permission to use the information they have on file for you to open an AmEx Send account.

There are no fees for setting the account up and there is no credit check required.

Upon creation, AmEx will walk you through linking the new Send account to your Venmo and/or PayPal accounts as a payment method.

How To Use AmEx Send

There are two ways to send money to Venmo and PayPal users with an AmEx Send account:

• Via the AmEx app: This is done by visiting the Account tab I mentioned earlier and clicking on the “Send & Split” option. You’ll be able to specify which PayPal or Venmo account you’d like to send money to from there. The Venmo or PayPal user does NOT need an American Express card to receive your payment.
• Via the PayPal or Venmo app: Remember, your AmEx Send account was linked to your PayPal and Venmo accounts during setup. This should make it an available method of payment on those apps. So when you go through the process of sending money, you simply pick “AmEx Send” as your preferred payment method for the transaction.

Two key limitations to note:

• You can’t use this to pay for “Goods and Services” on Venmo or PayPal. It’s designed to send money to an individual (a free transaction), not to circumvent the credit card fees associated with a goods and services purchase.
• Even though it will show up as a charge on your statement, you cannot earn rewards points for the money that you send this way.

You can read more about how the AmEx Send process works here.

How To Use AmEx Split

You’ll want to be the person who makes the purchase with your American Express card at the point of sale.

Once the charge is either pending or posted to your AmEx card transaction log, you will be able to click “Split It” on that transaction.

From there, you’ll be able to split that charge and request payment from up to 20 Venmo or PayPal users. The default setting is to split the charge evenly among all included parties, but you can adjust the numbers manually before submitting the request.

When your friends pay the requested amount via PayPal or Venmo, AmEx will immediately credit that money as a statement credit toward the amount you owe for the purchase.

Two key limitations to note:

• Using “Split” only allows you to make a request for payment from a Venmo or PayPal user. If they decline to send you the money, you’re still on the hook to pay the full amount of the charge.
• This only works if you initiate the split for charges on your current or most recent billing cycle. Anything older than that will not be eligible, so you’ll want to make sure that you act in a timely manner to recoup your funds.

You can read more about how the AmEx Split process works here.

---

Final Thoughts: Pros and Cons

Are you considering trying out the Send & Split function with your American Express card? Here are some things to consider.

Pros	Cons
“Send” allows you to send money to other people via PayPal or Venmo without using banking information	Must sign up for an “Amex Send Account” to use this tool
“Split” could allow you to leverage group purchases to maximize your credit card rewards earnings	Using the “Split It” function may leave you waiting on your friends to reimburse you while hold a credit card balance
No fees associated with either “Send” or “Split”	Cannot accrue rewards with “Send” and may be subject to APR charges if you don’t pay your balance in full

Bottom Line: If you have concerns about safely using payment apps to move money between friends and family, this could be a good solution for you.

In my opinion, the primary use-case for “Send” is the consumer who needs to move funds peer-to-peer on Venmo or PayPal but does not want to use a bank account on the apps.

This is a good option for new PayPal and Venmo users, but setting a “Send” account up could also help existing users remove their bank account information without losing key app functionality.

And for the credit card rewards junkies among us, the “Split” function could allow you to maximize your rewards earnings by volunteering to make a group purchase and then recoup the funds by sending requests to your party’s Venmo or PayPal accounts.

Do you use American Express Send & Split? We’d love to hear about your experiences with it in the Clark.com community.