PayPal Launches Tap to Pay on Android for U.S. Merchants
PayPal announced support for Tap to Pay on Android for merchants in the United States on June 28, 2023, available through the Venmo and Zettle apps. The feature enables merchants to accept contactless payments directly on their Android devices without purchasing additional hardware, lowering the barrier to embedded payment acceptance. This positions PayPal's merchant ecosystem as a broader embedded finance platform where businesses can accept NFC-based card payments natively.
The launch followed PayPal's earlier iOS Tap to Pay support and came after competitors Stripe (which launched Android Tap to Pay in February 2023) and Square (which followed in April 2023). The feature supports major card networks and digital wallets. By enabling software-based point-of-sale acceptance, PayPal deepens its payments-as-a-service offering for small and mid-sized businesses.
The move reflects the broader industry trend of embedding financial acceptance capabilities directly into everyday devices and apps.
- Intensifies competition among PayPal, Stripe, and Square in embedded software-based POS acceptance, commoditizing payment hardware
- Accelerates the payments-as-a-service model where any smartphone becomes a merchant terminal, expanding embedded finance reach to micro and SME merchants