Interesting to note that the button does appear on Google Chrome if you use the back button.

Example:

1. On desktop google chrome pick an amount + monthly + choose venmo.

2. Get to page 2 where the Venmo button is missing.

3. Hit the back button on the browser to go back to page one then go forward again and the Venmo button appears.

As requested by @Cstone here's that screenshot. :)

Just an update here. It's still broken for me on Google Chrome. I was curious to retry all the browsers. Firefox still worked fine for me today at least the few times I tried.

However, unfortunately I was also able to recreate this issue in Safari today. So it looks like it may be an issue on both Google Chrome and Safari.

From Safari:

For both browsers the Venmo button is displaying on some attempts, but not consistently unfortunately.

I just tried this locally, and I can't reproduce it. I'm on Linux running Google Chrome.

I then tried using our cross OS / cross-browser tool, BrowserStack, first running Chrome on Mac OS, and then secondly running Safari on Mac O,S and I see the Venmo button on both :|

If it's helpful to note on Wednesday I cleared my cookies/data in Google Chrome (my primary browser) and have been unable to recreate this again.

This morning I decided to see what would happen in Safari as I previously saw this error there as noted above but hadn't yet cleared my cookies in that browser. On my first attempt via Safari I came across this error again and took the following screenshots:

I then cleared my cookies/data in Safari and then the next attempts the Venmo button was there as intended.

It seems that no donors have reported this which is good and it seems to work when you clear cookies so there seems to be a workaround which is also good. Maybe just a temporary blip. :)

That JS error in the first screenshots is interesting and might give us something to look for. Thanks for sharing!

I'm guessing there was a bug but they have since fixed it and @AMJohnson was the lucky one to catch it in the wild

Hiya! We've had what appears to be our first donor report of this issue that just came in last night.

Donor in #1780996 / CID 30581936 on 11/24/2025 reports:

"Might have been my page refusing to load. Went back and re-clicked same options and suddenly it worked. (Below screenshot provided by donor) Essentially I clicked the one time donation - no it’ll be one time - venmo- and it took me to this page *EXCEPT* there was no venmo button. Only had a blank space underneath. Not even a grayed out clickable option to tell me I had failed. I had no way to submit the donation after going through the whole set up. I was plain confused because I didn’t know that there was a missing button. I clicked around typed my employer into the optional field since it was my only available option. I tried to hit enter. No dice. Fixed it by going back through and re-clicking the same options again. The second time the Venmo button appeared and made donating easy. However, I bring this up because I’m fine donating twice if it double charged me going back. I didn’t really have risk involved. Other people might not be and would give up donating entirely rather than risk getting charged twice. Especially if they donated the max they could realistically share. Hope you guys fix it because the missing button did make me initially decide not to donate. Good thing it appeared the second time. Ease of access matters a lot."

Looking back at our error triage doc these could be unrelated but I'm wondering if either of the below donors also encountered this. If you don't get the Venmo button you might think that you are "stuck" on the field that requires you to enter your employment info as they described below. Not sure but fyi. 🙂

EDIT: I was trying to setup a Venmo donation today for donor portal testing and came across this again myself just fyi. 😅

[see below comment from 12/05 for screenshot]

Ok, this is enough for us to dig back into this. Thanks for all the info @AMJohnson

So there is something going on here, and I'm leaning towards intermittent Braintree connectivity issues, though I still can't replicate it on my end.

I can see in the logs that the first donor does reload the page multiple times over their 11-minute session windiw until they eventually click the Venmo button and trigger the Authorize Payment call below:

Nov 25 02:14:41 payments1005 SmashPig-Braintree: braintree | Entering logging context '240543913:240543913.1 '. |  | 
Nov 25 02:14:41 payments1005 SmashPig-Braintree: braintree::240543913:240543913.1  | Outbound data: '{"query":"mutation { createClientToken { clientToken } }"}' |  | 
Nov 25 02:14:42 payments1005 SmashPig-Braintree: braintree::240543913:240543913.1  | cURL verbose logging: *   Trying 18.222.16.129:443...
Nov 25 02:14:42 payments1005 SmashPig-Braintree: braintree::240543913:240543913.1  | Successful request |  | 
Nov 25 02:14:42 payments1005 SmashPig-Braintree: braintree::240543913:240543913.1  | Outbound data: '{"query":"mutation { createClientToken { clientToken } }"}' |  | 
Nov 25 02:14:42 payments1005 SmashPig-Braintree: braintree::240543913:240543913.1  | cURL verbose logging: *   Trying 3.130.159.200:443...
Nov 25 02:14:42 payments1005 SmashPig-Braintree: braintree::240543913:240543913.1  | Successful request |  | 
Nov 25 02:15:52 payments1005 SmashPig-Braintree: braintree | Entering logging context '240543913:240543913.1 '. |  | 
Nov 25 02:15:52 payments1005 SmashPig-Braintree: braintree::240543913:240543913.1  | Outbound data: '{"query":"mutation { createClientToken { clientToken } }"}' |  | 
Nov 25 02:15:52 payments1005 SmashPig-Braintree: braintree::240543913:240543913.1  | cURL verbose logging: *   Trying 3.17.123.234:443...
Nov 25 02:15:52 payments1005 SmashPig-Braintree: braintree::240543913:240543913.1  | Successful request |  | 
Nov 25 02:15:52 payments1005 SmashPig-Braintree: braintree::240543913:240543913.1  | Outbound data: '{"query":"mutation { createClientToken { clientToken } }"}' |  | 
Nov 25 02:15:53 payments1005 SmashPig-Braintree: braintree::240543913:240543913.1  | cURL verbose logging: *   Trying 3.17.123.234:443...
Nov 25 02:15:53 payments1005 SmashPig-Braintree: braintree::240543913:240543913.1  | Successful request |  | 
Nov 25 02:16:36 payments1005 SmashPig-Braintree: braintree | Entering logging context '240543913:240543913.1 '. |  | 
Nov 25 02:16:36 payments1005 SmashPig-Braintree: braintree::240543913:240543913.1  | Outbound data: '{"query":"mutation { createClientToken { clientToken } }"}' |  | 
Nov 25 02:16:36 payments1005 SmashPig-Braintree: braintree::240543913:240543913.1  | cURL verbose logging: *   Trying 3.130.159.200:443...
Nov 25 02:16:36 payments1005 SmashPig-Braintree: braintree::240543913:240543913.1  | Successful request |  | 
Nov 25 02:16:36 payments1005 SmashPig-Braintree: braintree::240543913:240543913.1  | Outbound data: '{"query":"mutation { createClientToken { clientToken } }"}' |  | 
Nov 25 02:16:36 payments1005 SmashPig-Braintree: braintree::240543913:240543913.1  | cURL verbose logging: *   Trying 3.130.159.200:443...
Nov 25 02:16:36 payments1005 SmashPig-Braintree: braintree::240543913:240543913.1  | Successful request |  | 
Nov 25 02:25:13 payments1005 SmashPig-Braintree: braintree | Entering logging context '240543913:240543913.1 '. |  | 
Nov 25 02:25:13 payments1005 SmashPig-Braintree: braintree::240543913:240543913.1  | Outbound data: '{"query":"mutation AuthorizePaymentMethod($input: ...

It's interesting that we're hitting different IP addresses when making the initial client token call out to Venmo each time the donor reloads the page.

Hey @jgleeson! Having trouble getting that file I previously attached to be visible. Trying again here.

Regarding my above comment from 11/25 "EDIT: I was trying to setup a Venmo donation today for donor portal testing and came across this again myself just fyi." below is the accompanying screenshot that wasn't visible.

Hoping it works this time. 😅

That worked! thanks

Ok, we've got something thanks to @Damilare. He was also looking into an unrelated Braintree thing, and he noticed that Braintree had an outage right around the time of our first donor experience issues. It's logged here https://www.paypal-status.com/history/eventdetails/93873

As mentioned in Slack by Sean K and myself, confirming this issue ramped up Sunday evening UTC with donors telling us they encountered difficulties.

Nowhere to advance in the flow when arriving at our 'Employer' page + not being taken to our confirmation page + transaction actually processing despite error messaging presenting to the donor, are the commonalities across multiple browsers.

Here are two examples:

• After it automatically opened my venmo app, and seemingly confirmed payment, it kicked me back to the page to select Venmo after “optionally” entering my employer info. This whole process now feels scammy and super phishy. I won’t be entering my employer info, nor will I be possibly tricked into doing another payment. Because of this possible “glitch” I will not be donating again. Check your system. I wish this would have been more secured and complete as I want to support Wikipedia fully, but the world is so sketch that the tiniest mistakes can lose a lot. #1789477 | no cid

• Venmo not working. I'm trying to via Venmo. I jump thrift all the Venmo hoops to get in and it says it's all set and sending me back to you to finish and it just brings me back to the same screen that has my substring amount and a button for Venmo. If I click it, I do the whole venmo things again, it says all set n back to Wikipedia, which them send me back to Venmo. How do I get off this merry go round? Because your site isn't recording the transaction and letting me exit? #1788405 | cid=49791338 (donation successful) | Android | Chrome browser

Noting that we removed Venmo from donatewiki and banners until this can be fixed

Change #1216597 had a related patch set uploaded (by Jgleeson; author: Jgleeson):

[mediawiki/extensions/DonationInterface@deployment] Merge branch 'master' into deployment

https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/1216597

Change #1216597 merged by jenkins-bot:

[mediawiki/extensions/DonationInterface@deployment] Merge branch 'master' into deployment

https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/1216597

After digging into this today with @Cstone and @Damilare, we've done the following:

• We've updated the Venmo SDK we're using to the latest version after discovering that we were running a slightly older version. We're hoping we get some bug fixes and a better user experience as a result.
• Relaxed the Venmo configuration to allow Venmo sessions in new tabs. @Damilare found a setting hidden in the config that was only allowing transactions to take place in the same browser tab that they were initiated in. We don't know if this is a significant factor, but we also don't see any reason to enforce this rule, so we removed it.

That error looks like it could be a load order issue - for Adyen we add preload hints for the adyen JS in the HTML, but then add the actual script tag in our own adyen.js so we can make sure we run our own scripts that depend on it afterward. I don't see us doing the same thing for braintree. That would also explain why it works after hitting the back button - the script is then already in the browser cache.

Thanks @Ejegg. I'm not sure how the load ordering explains why it's a new problem. We launched Braintree Venmo back in 2022, and these error reports only started happening a few months back. Could you point to where the preload hints are for Adyen? If we can recreate the issue by messing with the ordering, then I guess it makes sense to try.

However, since we applied the updates mentioned in the ticket, donor relations posted here that the problem has gone away for now.

Change #1217349 had a related patch set uploaded (by Ejegg; author: Ejegg):

[mediawiki/extensions/DonationInterface@master] Ensure braintree scripts are loaded before using

https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/1217349

Change #1217587 had a related patch set uploaded (by Ejegg; author: Ejegg):

[mediawiki/extensions/DonationInterface@master] Ensure braintree scripts are loaded before using

https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/1217587

Hey team! Just flagging a new one that's come in. Ticket #1799595 / CID 10492758 came in an hour ago and donor reports not seeing the Venmo button on Safari. Here is what the donor shared:

Hi.

I’m having trouble donating.

I’m using an iPhone 14, with iOS 26.1. I’m browsing with Safari.

I’m trying to pay with Venmo.

Where I’m getting stopped is at the prompt to enter my employer’s name.

The first time I tried to donate, there was a “Venmo” button that appeared below the “employer” field. I did not enter anything in the “employer” field ecause I didn’t want you to bother my employer. I clicked on the Venmo button and went through the entire process, with Venmo, to donate the amount I wanted. When that was complete, it returned me to the same page, with the prompt to enter my employer. There was no way to leave that page and return to Wikipedia.

Because I assumed my transaction was complete, I closed that browser tab and opened Wkipedia in a new tab.

All I saw was more requests to donate, as if I didn’t just do that.

I checked Venmo and saw that there was no transaction with Wikipedia this morning.

I went back to my browser and started the whole process over again to donate to Wikipedia. Once again, after choosing the amount I wanted to donate, it took me to the page with the prompt to enter my employer’s name. There was no way to leave that page or move on from that page. Finally, I assumed that entering my employers name in the “employer” field was REQUIRED in order to complete any transaction.

I entered my employer’s name and hit “enter”. Nothing happed. I hit “enter” 5 more times. Still nothing happened. This time, I noticed that there was no “Venmo” button under the “employer” field.

There was no way to move past that page. There was no way to complete the transaction. There was no way to return to Wikipedia.

I gave up and am sending you this email.

I wasn't able to recreate the venmo button not appearing on Safari or Firefox. However, just now I was able to recreate it not appearing on Google Chrome.

1. Using Google Chrome on Macbook + Desktop going to donate.wikimedia.org
2. Going here > https://payments.wikimedia.org/index.php/Special:BraintreeGateway?currency=USD&country=US&payment_method=venmo&uselang=en&amount=1.75&recurring=1&frequency_unit=month&wmf_medium=spontaneous&wmf_campaign=spontaneous&wmf_source=fr-redir.default%7Edefault%7Edefault%7Edefault%7Econtrol.rvenmo&wmf_key=vw_2792%7Evh_1173%7EotherAmt_0%7EdonateMC_1%7EoriginalAmt_2.75%7Etime_5
3. Venmo button did not appear (see below screenshot)

Thanks for flagging that this is still an issue @AMJohnson. @Ejegg had some insights last week about another potential solution here, and it looks like he was right, so we'll try to get that out soon and fix this one once and for all!

Change #1217587 merged by jenkins-bot:

[mediawiki/extensions/DonationInterface@master] Ensure braintree scripts are loaded before using

https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/1217587

OK @AMJohnson we've deployed another fix for this, hopefully the definitive one. Please let us know if you see more complaints.

Change #1217349 abandoned by Ejegg:

[mediawiki/extensions/DonationInterface@master] Ensure braintree scripts are loaded before using

Reason:

Other chain of patches merged

https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/1217349

Hi there @Ejegg, we have had a donor reach out in the last 10mins with the following (post latest patch, I feel):

Cannot donate via Venmo. I’ve gone through the process unsuccessfully four times; It keeps pushing me back to the Employer screen for matched donation after I submit my donation. For the record, I’m not employed and have put in ‘N/A’ and then ‘retired’ to get past the screen. #1802664 | cid=40438624

Thanks @KHancock99. I'll pull this back in. There's one other potential explanation here, so we'll take a crack at that and see if it helps!

Change #1218757 had a related patch set uploaded (by Jgleeson; author: Jgleeson):

[mediawiki/extensions/DonationInterface@master] Load Braintree scripts sequentially to load-order dependency issues.

https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/1218757

Change #1218768 had a related patch set uploaded (by Jgleeson; author: Jgleeson):

[mediawiki/extensions/DonationInterface@master] Load only required Braintree component script per payment method

https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/1218768

In T410306#11462627, @KHancock99 wrote:

Hi there @Ejegg, we have had a donor reach out in the last 10mins with the following (post latest patch, I feel):

Cannot donate via Venmo. I’ve gone through the process unsuccessfully four times; It keeps pushing me back to the Employer screen for matched donation after I submit my donation. For the record, I’m not employed and have put in ‘N/A’ and then ‘retired’ to get past the screen. #1802664 | cid=40438624

This sounds like the error flow that Sean experienced here. We should confirm that the donor was not charged repeatedly due to this confusion on the UI. I'll log into Venmo to check.

Change #1218757 merged by jenkins-bot:

[mediawiki/extensions/DonationInterface@master] Load Braintree scripts sequentially to avoid load-order dependency issues.

https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/1218757

Change #1218768 merged by jenkins-bot:

[mediawiki/extensions/DonationInterface@master] Load only required Braintree component script per payment method

https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/1218768

@KHancock99 we have just deployed @jgleeson's latest fix. Hopefully that's the last one we need!

Thank you @Ejegg and @jgleeson for digging deeper on this one. We will keep you posted.

Great advice too, @jgleeson, regarding reassurance to #1802664 around a possible quadruple donation occurrence.