Sending electronic money to friends catching on

(Reuters) - J.P. Pagoadacruz was sitting in a restaurant with friends one night when he realized he had forgotten his wallet. What might have been an embarrassment turned out to be no problem, though, because he had remembered to bring his phone. In a matter of seconds, he transferred money to a friend, using an app for a payment service called Venmo.

The 30-year-old office manager of a San Francisco hotel is part of a growing number of people who use a person-to-person payment system to transfer money directly from their bank accounts to those of friends and other individuals using mobile phones, computers and tablets.

Pagoadacruz uses the Venmo system about twice a week for splitting restaurant tabs or household bills, and says sending money this way is easier than constantly running to an automatic teller machine or writing a check.

"Just tap on their name, tap on the amount and send," he said.