PayPal unveiled today the introduction of “Tap to Pay” for merchants using an iPhone via the Venmo and Zettle apps in the U.S. PayPal, the owner of both Venmo and Zettle, has announced a new feature that enables businesses to accept contactless card and digital wallet payments directly on their iPhones at no extra cost or need for additional hardware. Eight months after PayPal introduced the feature for merchants with Android phones, the launch has finally arrived.
Aside from enabling card and digital wallet payments such as Apple Pay or Google Pay, Tap to Pay enables merchants to incorporate taxes, receive tips, send receipts, and process refunds without requiring extra hardware. The company swiftly transfers proceeds from sales to a business’s Venmo or PayPal Zettle account. For every sale made through the tap-to-pay method on Zettle and Venmo, PayPal applies a fee of 2.29% plus 9 cents.
By utilizing Tap to Pay on the iPhone, Venmo business profile users can expand their customer reach by enabling payments from buyers who may not have a Venmo account. Merchants have the ability to oversee their Venmo and card payment transactions conveniently through the Venmo app.
The feature was officially launched a few months after PayPal conducted testing through an early access program.
Two years after Stripe became Apple’s first payment partner for Tap to Pay, the new feature is finally being launched. One year later, Stripe expanded its services to allow businesses to conduct Tap to Pay transactions on NFC-equipped Android devices. Stripe charges $0.10 per transaction for Tap to Pay purchases through its Stripe payment gateway, along with extra fees for card and digital wallet payments.
With the rise of cashless transactions, PayPal believes that Tap to Pay on iPhone will assist numerous small businesses in adjusting to changing consumer habits by eliminating the necessity for merchants to buy card readers.