The news: Users will no longer be able to pay with their PayPal accounts in Google and Samsung wallets in the US, per a Verge report. Linked PayPal accounts will be automatically deleted by Google Wallet on June 13.
Users can add their PayPal Debit Mastercard as a replacement payment method. PayPal’s cards can also be added to the Apple Wallet.
Why the switch? PayPal has been pushing a celebrity-studded PayPal Everywhere campaign to encourage users and cardholders to use its slate of payment options—debit, credit, and prepaid—everywhere they shop.
PayPal’s Q1 results reflect strong consumer enthusiasm for its debit card: Debit card TPV grew 64% YoY, and the number of monthly active debit cardholders is up 40%.
Our take: As customers adopt PayPal for in-store transactions, the payment platform can capture more volume from everyday purchases.
Discontinuing its integration with Google and Samsung wallets could help push users to pay exclusively through the PayPal app. By digitally enclosing more customers within its own ecosystem, PayPal can seize more revenues from each transaction.
This could also be a sign that PayPal is starting to focus more on its app as a method for domestic in-store payments—it just started offering NFC-powered payments in Germany for Androids and iPhones.
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