PayPal has announced that it is now rolling out Apple Pay as a checkout option for small businesses. This means that small businesses using PayPal’s “complete payments solution” online can now offer Apple Pay as a payment option during their checkout flow.

PayPal first detailed its plans to adopt Apple Pay support last year as part of its roadmap of “strategic initiatives and business updates” for 2023. In a press release April 4,2023, the company announced that Apple Pay support is now rolling out for small businesses online.

The option to enable Apple Pay for checkout is available to small businesses that use PayPal’s “complete payments solution” platform. This is the unbranded checkout flow that many small businesses use and it’s different than the branded checkout page. Essentially, this means that small businesses using PayPal as the backend for their payment processing can now enable Apple Pay.

Small businesses that are leveraging PayPal’s complete payments solution will now be able to accept Apple Pay alongside a variety of other popular payment options. Apple Pay offers their customers an easy, secure and private way to pay online and in-apps when using Apple devices.

“The retail landscape is constantly evolving and SMBs need access to a range of tools to help them drive sales, cut costs and protect themselves and their customers from fraud,” said Nitin Prabhu, VP, Merchant Experiences and Payment Solutions, PayPal. “With our complete payments solution, small businesses can get access to all of these tools with one integration.”

At launch, the ability to pay with Apple Pay through PayPal’s unbranded checkout flow is available only for one-time transactions. The company says that recurring payment support will be added soon.

PayPal and Venmo adding Tap to Pay on iPhone, Apple Pay for online purchases, and Wallet app support

PayPal will soon be rolling out new ways for customers and merchants to take advantage of Apple Pay, iPhone, and more. PayPal says it will soon be adopting Apple’s new Tap to Pay on iPhone feature for merchants, as well as adding support for Apple Pay to its branded debit and credit cards and adding Apple Pay as a payment option in checkout flows.

PayPal adopting Apple Pay and more

PayPal made these announcements in an update to investors as part of its Q3 2022 earnings release. As one of its “strategic initiatives and business updates,” the company says it is “working with Apple to enhance our offerings for PayPal and Venmo merchants and consumers.”

We’re very pleased to be working with Apple to enhance our offerings for our PayPal and Venmo merchants and consumers,” PayPal Chief Executive Officer Dan Schulman said in the statement. 

There are different components to today’s announcement from PayPal, which also owns the popular peer-to-peer payment platform Venmo. Here they are:

• Leveraging Apple’s Tap to Pay on iPhone technology, US merchant will soon be able to accept contactless debit or credit cards and mobile wallets, including Apple Pay, using an iPhone and the PayPal or Venmo iOS app.
• Adding Apple Pay as a payment option in PayPal’s unbranded checkout flows on merchant platforms, including the PayPal Commerce Platform.
• Next year, US customers will be able to add PayPal and Venmo network-branded credit and debit cards to Apple Wallet and use them anywhere Apple Pay is accepted.

Tap to Pay on iPhone is a new feature launched by Apple earlier this year, currently available in Apple Stores and via Square’s merchant app. Tap to Pay on iPhone works by the merchant prompting the customer to hold their iPhone or Apple Watch near the merchant’s iPhone to pay with Apple Pay, a contactless credit or debit card, or another digital wallet. The payment is then securely completed using NFC technology.

Meanwhile, PayPal’s announcement today also means that you’ll see Apple Pay as a payment option at select online stores that use the company’s unbranded checkout flows. This will increase the availability of Apple pay for purchases on the web, but it sounds like the implementation will be somewhat limited.

Finally, PayPal also says that consumers will be able to add their PayPal and Venmo-branded debit and credit cards to Apple Wallet and Apple Pay.

PayPal Adds New Features to Its Complete Payments Solution for Online Small Businesses

PayPal’s online payment solution enables SMBs to accept PayPal payments, credit and debit cards, digital wallets and more. Beginning today, SMBs will also be able to accept payments with Apple Pay^®, allow their customers to save payment methods with the PayPal vault and keep their cards up to date with real-time account updater, as well as get access to features to help them run their business including interchange plus plus (IC++) pricing with gross settlement.

SAN JOSE, Calif., April 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: PYPL) today announced it has added new features to its complete payments solution for small businesses. The solution enables small businesses to accept a range of payments including PayPal, Venmo and PayPal Pay Later products. Giving customers more choice in how they can pay can help drive checkout. Fifty-nine percent of respondents of a recent Ponemon Institute study said their customers frequently abandon their shopping cart when their preferred payment method is unavailable.PayPal’s complete payments solution also enables small businesses to process card payments directly on their website, and customize the checkout experience to match the look and feel of their brand, all through a single integration.

Beginning today, PayPal will also give small businesses access to four new features to help them drive payment acceptance and enhance how they run their business. This will include Apple Pay as a checkout option, the ability for customers to save payment methods with the PayPal vault for faster future checkout, real-time account updater to help customers keep their payment methods up to date, and access to IC++ pricing.

“The retail landscape is constantly evolving and SMBs need access to a range of tools to help them drive sales, cut costs and protect themselves and their customers from fraud,” said Nitin Prabhu, VP, Merchant Experiences and Payment Solutions, PayPal. “With our complete payments solution, small businesses can get access to all of these tools with one integration.”

Enabling more payment choice to help drive checkout 

Small businesses that are leveraging PayPal’s complete payments solution will now be able to accept Apple Pay alongside a variety of other popular payment options. Apple Pay offers their customers an easy, secure and private way to pay online and in-apps when using Apple^® devices.

Simplifying the checkout experience to help drive conversion

In addition, PayPal’s complete payments solution now allows consumers to securely save their payment information on a business’s ecommerce website for future purchases. This can reduce friction and drive conversion. By letting PayPal help manage some of the business’s PCI compliance for the storage of financial instruments, businesses are better able to manage risk and complexity of their businesses. Small businesses can save multiple payment methods — including PayPal, Venmo and cards — in the PayPal vault. Once saved, these payment methods will remain fresh via PayPal’s real-time account updater service and network tokens, which can help reduce declines and drive conversions by automatically updating lost, stolen or expired cards-on-file.

Helping businesses better manage their cashflow and get more transparent pricing

Small businesses will continue to get access to features like automatic transfer, which helps businesses better manage their cashflow. Businesses will now be able to choose between flat-rate pricing or an IC++ pricing model, which helps them get paid the full amount up-front and get a transparent view into processing costs.

Helping keep businesses and their customers secure

To help keep small businesses secure in an environment where fraud is on the rise, PayPal’s complete payments solution will continue to offer Fraud Protection, Chargeback Protection and Seller Protection, on eligible transactions. SMBs will also get one of the market-leading rates on processing fees for card payments, alternative payment methods and other digital wallets, at just 2.59% + 49 cents. Pricing for PayPal payments is 3.49% + 49 cents.

You can learn more about PayPal’s complete payments solution here.

About PayPal

 PayPal has remained at the forefront of the digital payment revolution for more than 20 years. By leveraging technology to make financial services and commerce more convenient, affordable, and secure, the PayPal platform is empowering 435 million active accounts in more than 200 markets to join and thrive in the global economy. For more information, visit paypal.com.

¹ Ponemon Institute, Commissioned by PayPal. The 2022 True Cost of Online Fraud Global Study.
² Pay with Apple Pay on Advanced Checkout is currently for one-time transactions with recurring payment support to be added soon. 
³ Apple and Apple Pay are registered trademarks of Apple Inc.
⁴ Fraud Protection is available on “Advanced Card Payments” (unbranded processing) and branded PayPal payments but not guest transactions.
⁵ Certain chargebacks are not eligible for the Chargeback Protection tool. See terms for details. Chargebacks that are not related to fraud or item not received (INR), such as broken Item, significantly not as described (SNAD), refund not processed, and duplicate charge, are not protected by Chargeback Protection. Chargeback Protection is available for accounts enrolled in Advanced Credit and Debit Card Payments.
⁶ Available on eligible purchases. Limits apply.
⁷ Fees are subject to change.