In a bold move to penetrate the U.S. point-of-sale (POS) payments market, PayPal Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: PYPL) is integrating its debit card with Apple Inc.'s (NASDAQ: AAPL) mobile wallet and offering different cashback rewards.
What Happened: This move is part of a strategic shift led by new CEO Alex Chriss, who joined PayPal from Intuit last year. The goal is to secure a share of in-person purchases at stores, cafes, and restaurants.
Despite being a dominant player in online and peer-to-peer payments via its Venmo app, PayPal has not previously promoted its products for in-person use.
The venture into point-of-sale payments includes 5% cash back for certain products up to $1,000 per month when using their PayPal Debit MasterCard (NYSE: MA) and additional rewards from brands like DoorDash (NASDAQ: DASH), Domino's (NYSE: DPZ) and Sephora (OTC: LVMUY). PayPal will also enable customers to use debit cards with Apple Pay, capitalizing on the rising popularity of mobile wallets and "tap to pay" options.
As per Reuters, the company is reportedly making its largest-ever marketing investment to promote using PayPal in person, though the exact amount remains undisclosed.
Why It Matters: PayPal's 5% cash-back reward on a category of a user's choosing makes it one of the more competitive debit card cash-back products.
This move comes after Apple and Mastercard's increased competition for PayPal earlier in June. In August, Apple opened its NFC gates, potentially benefiting PayPal and Block Inc (NYSE: SQ).
The development comes only a few days after PayPal expanded its strategic partnership with Fiserv, enhancing its checkout conversions.