Interested to hear why you think it's unimpressive. It just works, and it adds a fun, social element to payments without being creepy or annoying about it.
The key to the product is the strength of the network. They got all the major banks and CC providers to sign onto the platform, which was unprecedented. So from that standpoint, it's a fantastic product.
I don't think it's bad at all. You're right that it does exactly what it says it does and that's cool, but that doesn't make it impressive.
It's not particularly well designed, I don't know why there's a social dimension to it, etc. I don't think every product needs to be impressive and I don't mean it as a dig on Venmo. Just that if there IS a way to fill this niche in an "impressive" way, Venmo isn't it.
Edit: Actually Square Cash is pretty damn impressive. Emailing cash instantly with no need for accounts? That's baller.
The key to the product is the strength of the network. They got all the major banks and CC providers to sign onto the platform, which was unprecedented. So from that standpoint, it's a fantastic product.