Venmo and PayPal to add in-store payments that use NFC to their mobile apps in the first half of 2017
Context & Ripple Effects
Earlier in 2016, Venmo pushed beyond its peer-to-peer base with Pay With Venmo, bringing checkout into third-party apps starting with Gametime and Munchery on iOS. The new NFC plan extends that same offline ambition to physical stores, putting PayPal's wallets head-to-head with Apple Pay at existing contactless terminals.
What makes this data point interesting in hindsight: the related coverage shows PayPal ultimately reaching stores through a different rail first — a Venmo Visa card built around QR codes on the physical card, then CVS becoming the first national retailer to accept those codes — before circling back to contactless hardware with plans to support iPhone Tap to Pay in both apps six years later.
First-order effects
- Merchants with NFC terminals would be able to accept Venmo and PayPal directly at the register, giving Venmo's consumer base a way to spend balances in physical retail rather than only in-app or person-to-person.
Second-order effects
- The move forces a choice on retailers between promoting Apple Pay and a PayPal-branded wallet on the same terminal, while rival wallets' merchant deals become the pricing battleground for who owns the checkout moment.
Third-order effects
- The eventual path — QR-first acceptance at CVS, a co-branded card, then Tap to Pay support — suggests wallet providers hedge between NFC and QR rails depending on which one retailers adopt fastest, making payment-rail choice a strategic variable rather than a technical given.
The trend: Digital wallets are racing to convert online payment brands into in-store acceptance, with providers like PayPal shifting between NFC and QR rails as retailer adoption dictates.