Venmo Not Sending Your Code? Phone Verification Rules and Fixes

If Venmo is not sending your code, start with where the code comes from. Venmo sends its verification texts from a five-digit short code, 86753, and most of Venmo’s own fixes are about letting those short-code texts through.

This guide covers those fixes, whether you can use Venmo without a phone number, which numbers Venmo asks for, and how to change the number on your account without locking yourself out.

Why Venmo asks for your phone number

The number is part of how Venmo protects your account, not just a sign-up step. Venmo’s help center says: “When you sign up or update your phone number on Venmo, we’ll send a verification code to your phone number via text message.” It keeps using the number afterwards: “When you sign in, we may send a code to the phone number registered with your Venmo account.”

Venmo will never ask you for that code. Its login security page is direct: “If someone requests your six-digit code, it’s probably a scam”. For a sign-in you didn’t make, Venmo’s advice is to change your password and remove any device you don’t recognize from “Remembered devices” in your Settings.

Can you use Venmo without a phone number?

No. Venmo’s sign-up steps include “Verify your phone number and email address”, and its user agreement says that to create a personal account you must “use a cellular/wireless telephone number that you own.” The same agreement says: “You may only have one personal account.”

Two more rules matter here. Venmo “is only accessible within the United States at this time”, and you “must keep your phone number, email address and other contact information current” on your account.

A phone number doesn’t replace identity verification either. Venmo says it “is required by federal law to collect certain information from all its users that have access to a balance”, and without an SSN or ITIN you can’t complete that check.

Which phone numbers work for Venmo?

Venmo asks for a cellular/wireless number, so a VoIP number from an internet calling app doesn’t fit that description. A non-VoIP number is a real mobile number from a carrier, which is what PVADeals rents. Not sure which kind you have? See our guide to VoIP vs non-VoIP numbers.

The number also has to be free on Venmo. If Venmo says it’s already registered, “there is an active Venmo account associated with that information.” Venmo Support can release a number to its owner, but it asks for proof such as a phone bill, so with a rented number the simple fix is a different number.

Using a second number for Venmo: only one you keep

Venmo texts this number whenever it needs to confirm it’s you, and its agreement asks for a number you own and keep current. That rules out a 20-minute number: once it expires, the next sign-in code goes nowhere. Use your own number, or a second number you’ll keep for as long as you have the account, such as a long-term number on auto-renew or an All services plan.

1. Create a free PVADeals account and add credits: crypto from $3, or a card through Stripe from $5.
2. Choose Venmo from the list of websites, with a US number. If it isn’t listed, rent an All services number instead, which works on any website.
3. Pick a long-term rental (3, 7, 14 or 30 days) and turn on auto-renew, so you keep the same number.
4. Enter the number in Venmo, at sign-up or under Me > Settings > Account > Phone Number, and request the code. PVADeals numbers receive SMS only.
5. Copy the code from your PVADeals dashboard, where it appears as soon as it arrives, and enter it in Venmo.

Venmo decides which numbers it accepts. A PVADeals number is a real carrier mobile line, so Venmo sees an ordinary mobile number.

If Venmo is not sending your code

Venmo’s help center lists these fixes:

• Resend the code. “Click Resend Code if your phone is unable to receive messages from short codes.” To send it again from the app, go to Me > Settings > Account > Phone Number and enter your number again.
• Allow texts from 86753. Venmo suggests texting START to 86753 “to ensure you’re allowing text messages from Venmo.” That tip is for your own phone: a PVADeals number receives SMS only.
• Sign in on a computer. Logging in on a computer with your email and password triggers an SMS code, and “Successfully logging in on a computer using an SMS code will also verify your phone number automatically”.
• Check short codes with your carrier. Venmo’s last tip: “be sure you have messaging from short codes enabled with your phone provider”.
• Still stuck? Chat with Venmo Support in the app: Me > Settings > Get Help > Chat With Us.

On a PVADeals number, if an eligible number receives no SMS during the rental, its cost comes back to your balance automatically as store credit.

How to change your phone number on Venmo

Once you’re signed in, Venmo’s steps are:

1. Go to your Settings.
2. Click Profile, or in the app tap Account, then Phone Number.
3. Enter your new phone number and save it.

Venmo then texts a code to the new number: “Enter the code to confirm your ownership of the new phone number.” Don’t open a second account instead. Venmo says: “You can only create one account per individual, as outlined in the Venmo User Agreement.”

If Venmo sends the sign-in code to an old number you no longer have, “try signing in from a device you’ve previously used to access Venmo.” If that isn’t possible, tap “Other options” or “I don’t have access to this phone” on the sign-in screen to verify your identity instead.

Using a rented number? Change it on Venmo before the rental ends, while it can still receive the code.

Keep your personal number off Venmo

A long-term US number from PVADeals receives Venmo’s codes without your personal phone, renewable for as long as you use Venmo. See our US phone numbers and the prices below, or read our guides for other payment apps: Cash App and PayPal.