Venmo Back With a Vengeance, Targets In-App Purchases

February 1, 2024 by
Venmo Back With a Vengeance, Targets In-App Purchases

Not so long ago, when many thought of Venmo, usually either confusion or memory of its security issues came readily to mind.

Venmo has been working very hard to change that, though, and now is making a move on the majors by bringing in-app purchases to its roster of services in a service called Pay With Venmo.

Right now, Pay With Venmo’s connection to the in-app payment market is a bit limited, with agreements in place only for Gametime, a sports ticket vendor, and Munchery, a food delivery system. With the agreements, users can pay for Gametime and Munchery’s goods and services directly from the app, using the payment data that’s been stored in Venmo to complete the transaction.

Additionally, the Pay With Venmo service can only be used by certain iOS users for now, but the company’s general manager Michael Vaughan notes that the service will make the jump to Android devices not too far down the line.

Venmo should have an edge on future development here thanks to its PayPal connection, and the connection with mobile payments processor Braintree. Indeed, reports note an earnings call back in November where PayPal noted that Venmo should be usable by any app that can use PayPal fairly soon, meaning more Pay With Venmo services should be online in fairly short order.

Good news for Venmo, of course, news that it could use going into such an exchange. Venmo is a comparative unknown against the major players in this field, Android Pay and Apple Pay.

Given that both were looking, to some extent, to take on the in-app payments field, Venmo will need some help getting users interested in its service when two major names are available instead. The PayPal / Braintree connection will certainly help, but it’s still likely to be an uphill slog for Venmo. Bucking those earlier concerns about its security will likely also be a job that needs doing.

Uphill, maybe, but not impossible; Venmo will have a fight on its hands getting into this market, but the potential reward is enormous, and worth chasing.

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