Venmo and Zettle Now Offer Tap to Pay on Android for Merchants

The PayPal-owned point of sale systems Venmo and Zettle are increasing functionality, helping customers with Android devices to purchase items just as quickly and easily as Apple users.

The two systems are adding “Tap to Pay” functionality, making it available to merchants who use either one of these software and hardware packages to process orders from store customers.

The Tap to Pay feature has been sweeping the payments business since Apple first announced it in February of last year, and can help restaurants and retailers everywhere cut down on surplus hardware while further streamlining their customers' shopping experience.

When Is Tap to Pay Available?

Zettle is Paypal's mobile-first POS system, and it already offers Tap to Pay on Android for all US merchants. Users of the Venmo for Business mobile payment service will have longer to wait: For that system, Tap to Pay is set to roll out across the next several months.

If you use Venmo for business purchases, you do have the option to request early access to the Tap to Pay functionality.

How Much Does It Cost?

Once equipped, you'll be able to accept Apple Pay, Google Pay, or card payments without any additional card readers or other hardware.

A charge is still applied, though: 2.29% + 9¢ for every Tap to Pay transaction. Paypal is still rolling out support for the function on iPhone for both Zettle and Venmo.

Interestingly, Venmo currently uses Zettle's technology to power this new feature. According to TechCrunch, Paypal “didn’t explicitly say that they are looking to merge both products, but said they see a lot of ‘synergies' between Venmo for Business and Zettle.”

Is Tap to Pay for You?

The “Tap to Pay” functionality has been a hot topic since last year. The feature came to Apple-partnered Stripe first, but another early POS system to hop on the feature was industry leader Square POS.

Ecommerce website builders also integrated Tap to Pay this year: Wix announced the tool in March 2023, while GoDaddy added the ability in April. Both builders only offered it on iPhone, not Android. Stripe was the first to debut the functionality on Android.

The feature might be able to help your business, if you're hoping to stay lean and avoid overhead costs. We'd recommend researching the POS system competition before picking which one is for you, however.

If you're hoping to get started, try out our guide to the best POS systems for retailers: Square is our top pick, with Zettle clocking in at a respectable fourth place.