New Tap-to-Pay feature for Venmo and PayPal Zettle

The new option will be available for Venmo’s business profile users in the US. As a result, Venmo users will be able to receive contactless payments on their Android devices, eliminating the need for extra hardware or upfront expenses.

As per the press release, the decision to launch this functionality was prompted by the recent economic landscape. More precisely, the new offering comes to address the customer demand for alternative payment methods. Given the shift towards card payments and the decline in cash usage among consumers, small businesses are rather forced to adapt and offer new payment methods.

Despite the market demand, many businesses have not yet invested in the necessary infrastructure that would make this possible. According to data from the official statement, around 80% of buyers have used contactless payments to make a purchase. Up until this moment, for small businesses to accept such payments, they had to pay for card readers.

More details about the new offering

The new Tap-to-Pay offering extended through Venmo comes to address this demand and to enable merchants to accept contactless cards, as well as digital wallets. By leveraging it, businesses will reportedly be able to manage their Venmo and card payment transactions within the app. Additionally, their funds will be settled directly into their Venmo account. This will enable them to streamline their operations and manage their cash flow.

PayPal representatives described Tap-to-Pay as a solution designed to democratise access to in-person card payments, eliminating the need for businesses to incur setup costs.

As explained in the official statement, small businesses will be able to onboard and use this new offering by following a series of simple steps. After completing this, they will provide payments via contactless cards and digital wallets through their Venmo business profile.

The new functionality is set to be available for all Venmo business profile users in the following months. However, users that want to gain access to it earlier can request early access.