PayPal Holdings has announced the launch of Tap to Pay with Zettle by PayPal for small businesses in the UK.
The new function, which will begin rolling out today, enables individual sellers and small businesses to accept contactless payments in-person directly on their Android mobile devices, with no additional hardware and no additional fees.
The launch comes at a time where popularity of contactless payments continues to rise, with nearly 70%1 of debit card transactions and over half (56%) of credit card transactions now being contactless. In fact, since the raise of the contactless spend limit last October (from £45 to £100) the average contactless spend has increased by 29% per transaction, from £11.86 in September 2021 to £15.30 in December 2021.
Following this shift in consumer behaviour, entrepreneurs and small businesses are looking for solutions to help them adapt and meet customers wherever they are. With Tap to Pay, individual sellers and small businesses can start accepting contactless payments within minutes of signing up with Zettle by PayPal. Sellers will be able to accept contactless payment via physical cards and digital wallets — like Apple Pay and Google Pay — on smartphones and connected watches, directly on their Android mobile device.
Leveraging near-field communication (NFC), Tap to Pay enables smartphones and tablets to serve as payment terminals by securely capturing card details through a contactless “tap” on the back of the device and through direct communication with card payment processing rails. The solution works on devices with Android 8.0 and NFC capabilities.
“The pandemic has accelerated the growth of new small businesses around the world. At the same time, the world is rapidly digitising, and consumers increasingly expect to be able to make seamless, digital payments whether online or in-person,” said Ben Ramsden, Director of Small Business for PayPal UK. “That’s why we’re excited to launch Tap to Pay. We believe in the power of small businesses and want to help them succeed. With Tap to Pay, entrepreneurs can quickly and easily start selling in-person – whether in a pop-up shop, at a farmers’ market, in a physical retail space, or on the go – with no additional costs or hardware needed.”
