PayPal announced today the launch of “Tap to Pay” for merchants using Venmo and Zettle apps on iPhones in the U.S. This feature enables businesses to accept contactless card and digital wallet payments directly on their iPhones at no extra cost or additional hardware. The release follows the earlier introduction of the feature for Android phones by PayPal eight months ago.
Tap to Pay not only allows merchants to accept payments from cards and digital wallets like Apple Pay or Google Pay but also enables them to include taxes, receive tips, issue refunds, and send receipts without needing extra hardware. Payments made through the feature are quickly transferred to the business’s Venmo or PayPal Zettle account, with a charge of 2.29% + 9¢ per sale by PayPal.
Through Tap to Pay on iPhone, Venmo business profiles can expand their reach by accepting payments from customers, even those without a Venmo account. Merchants can manage both Venmo and card payment transactions within the Venmo app.
This official launch follows months of testing through an early access program by PayPal. The introduction of this feature also comes two years after Stripe, a rival of PayPal, became Apple’s initial payment partner for Tap to Pay, and later enabled this feature for NFC-equipped Android devices. Stripe charges $0.10 per transaction using its payment gateway for Tap to Pay, with additional fees for card and digital wallet transactions.
With the increasing trend of consumers moving towards cashless transactions, PayPal believes Tap to Pay on iPhone will aid millions of small businesses in adapting to this shift in consumer behavior without the need to purchase card readers.
