Venmo API returns undocumented error 1396 on payment endpoint

Question

The error looks something like this

 request.post({
             url: 'https://api.venmo.com/v1/payments',
            form: {
                access_token: 'xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx',
                email: req.body.email,
                note: 'Payment of ' + req.user.coins + ' coins',
                amount: (req.user.coins * coin_price),
                audience: 'public',
                confirm: true
            }
        }, function(err, httpResponse, body) {
    console.log(err, body)
 } )

and the json response looks like this

{"error": {"message": "Please confirm whether you would like to pay a fee on this transaction", "code": 1396}}

I feel this is because on my account I have a credit card that requires a 3% fee. But I am fine with it. Is there a way I can auto accept this?

The documentation is here: Venmo payments

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 31 '14 at 17:19

_{I work at Braintree, same company as Venmo. If you have more questions, you can always reach out to the Venmo support team.}

That error occurs when you don't have a default funding source set, and the only funding source available is your credit card. Setting any default funding source (card or otherwise) will fix the problem. Its purpose is to prevent you accidentally incurring fees.

Thanks for reporting the undocumented error, we'll add it. We'll also update the error message to be more clear.

Venmo API returns undocumented error 1396 on payment endpoint

1 Answers1