Apple

Tap to Pay on iPhone will soon work with PayPal and Venmo

This is going to be clutch for small businesses.

by
Joe Rice-Jones
November 4, 2022

Image: Apple

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Apple’s Tap to Pay functionality is about to get support in the PayPal and Venmo iPhone apps.

That information comes as part of PayPal’s third-quarter earnings report. The implementation will mean merchants using iPhones won’t need additional hardware such as dongles or readers to take contactless payments.

The important thing here isn’t that Apple’s iPhone can take contactless payments using Tap to Pay. Sure, it’s cool that business owners can take contactless credit, debit, digital wallet, and Apple Pay payments.

What’s important is that, in opening up Tap to Pay to digital wallets such as Venmo and PayPal, Apple is loosening its grip on digital payments on the iPhone.

Digital wallets have been able to use the NFC reader on the iPhone for some time, but this is the first time they could use an Apple service.

“Tap to Pay on iPhone will provide businesses with a secure, private, and easy way to accept contactless payments and unlock new checkout experiences using the power, security, and convenience of iPhone,” said Vice President of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet Jennifer Bailey in the company’s release.

You can’t, for example, add PayPal as a payment option in Apple Pay. The story is different on Android, with Google Pay users able to add PayPal as a funding source.

That will change next year, with Apple Wallet users in the U.S. able to add “PayPal and Venmo network-branded credit and debit cards” to their digital wallet.

That’s big news and the first time Apple has let another digital wallet provider into its domain.

You won’t be able to link your PayPal or Venmo directly, however. That should be okay, as you can quickly get a debit card from either service.

The other thing that’s changing is that Apple Pay is coming as an option in PayPal’s checkout solution for online merchants.

While talking about online payments, Venmo is now live as a payment option on Amazon. That’s a limited rollout for now, with Venmo aiming for full U.S. customer support by the end of the year.

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