Amazon to accept Venmo payments

Important turnaround on the American online payment market. While Amazon has refused to integrate PayPal as a payment method on its platform, the e-commerce giant has finally decided to allow its customers to pay via Venmo. This strategic decision could give a new boost to the mobile payment service, and open a new functionality to customers on one of the world's leading e-commerce platform.

FACTS

• Amazon customers in the U.S. will soon have the option to opt in to Venmo when paying for their purchases on Amazon's shopping platform.

• The new feature will be available in 2022, according to PayPal, Venmo's parent company.

• The exact date for the integration of the service has not been specified.

• The two new partners agree, however, that this deployment will not involve the recent crypto-currency management feature offered by Venmo. At least initially.

CHALLENGES

• A necessary flexibility: Despite its efforts, Amazon has not been able to impose its in-house payment solution Amazon Pay. Amazon pay had 38 million users in 2018. The e-commerce giant also points out that the integration of Venmo responds to a request from its customers for more flexibility in their payment methods.

• A new pool of prospects: Venmo currently has over 80 million users in the United States. However, integrating the Amazon platform represents a new argument to convince Americans who are not yet users of the mobile payment service. Knowing that in July 2019, 82% of American households were Amazon Prime customers.

MARKET PERSPECTIVE

• According to a recent PayPal study on Venmo behavior, 65% of Venmo users reported increased online shopping behavior during the pandemic. 47% are interested in paying with Venmo when checking out of merchants.

• According to PayPal's latest results and forecasts, Venmo generated $60 billion in payment volume, up 36%, and could post $900 million in revenue by 2021.

• PayPal expects revenue growth of about 18% for 2022.