MADISON, Wis. — Digital payment apps like Venmo and PayPal make it easy for friends and family to split expenses and charge one another down to the cent. Now, the U.S. government is getting in on digital transactions.
“Being able to Venmo the government is crazy,” said one Madisonian.
The U.S. Treasury Department website accepts Venmo and PayPal as methods for Americans to donate to help relieve the national debt.
The option to put your own money toward the country’s debt isn’t new.
“It’s actually been around since the 1800s. But of course, technology has changed and now you can simply do it on your phone,” said Steve Noll, digital marketing professor at Madison College.
Estimates show that to pay off the nearly $37 trillion dollar debt, each American would have to pay upward of $100,000. Noll says adopting quicker payment methods works for companies and retailers.
“I think that there is a push to make digital stuff easier,” he said. “It also psychologically opens up the wallet to easy spending.”
Some Madisonians who spoke with News 3 Now wondered about the reverse.
“It’d be cool if you could pay your taxes by Venmo,” said one woman.
Noll doubts we’ll see both sides of that coin.
“Taxes are much more complicated in terms of the IRS and how they get money, how they refund money.”
But does making the transfer itself simpler entice more people to chip in?
“They have a lot of discretionary funds,” said one man. “When we can cut that back, then I’ll think about Venmo.”
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