How To Use PayPal In Stores

PayPal is synonymous with P2P payments and digital wallets for consumers. Over the years, PayPal has also dabbled in creating options for users to pay with their PayPal balances in brick-and-mortar stores. Despite a few failed attempts, PayPal seems to have finally worked out the kinks in the process.

PayPal users can now utilize QR code payments and near-field communication (NFC) technology to spend their balances at shops in the offline world.

This article will cover how merchants can enable customers to use PayPal in their stores and what those transactions look like from the consumer’s perspective.

How To Pay With PayPal In-Store

There are a few ways to spend a PayPal balance at a brick-and-mortar store. These include: adding PayPal to compatible mobile wallet like Google Pay, using a PayPal-issued card (of which there are several options), and using the PayPal app’s QR code functionality.

Of course, the merchant will need to have the infrastructure to accommodate an in-store PayPal payment. Most POS systems can accept contactless PayPal payments via Google Pay, and virtually any POS can accept a PayPal credit card. However, far fewer systems can accept PayPal QR code payments (Clover, Lightspeed, and PayPal Zettle are a few systems that do have this capability).

Note that the PayPal app does not have any built-in contactless NFC payment capabilities, and it unfortunately cannot integrate with Apple Pay. So if you aren’t an Android and Google Pay user, and you don’t have a PayPal card, you can only pay with PayPal in stores whose POS systems accept PayPal QR code payments.

How Can Merchants Accept PayPal Payments In-Store?

The good news is you don’t have to be a PayPal merchant to accept payments from PayPal customers in stores. If you want to accept PayPal payments online, that’s another story. (I suggest you check out our PayPal review to see whether the company’s merchant services fit your needs.)

Keep in mind that customers have three ways to pay in stores with PayPal: using one of PayPal’s Mastercard-backed debit or credit cards, NFC payment via Google Pay, and QR code.

Can You Add PayPal To Apple Pay?

Unfortunately, PayPal does not currently support NFC payments with Apple devices, and you cannot link your PayPal balance to Apple Pay or Apple Cash. That may change in the future, but for now, it’s not an option. You won’t see an option to link PayPal in the Apple Pay wallet setup or the PayPal app on an iOS device.

However, Apple does allow you to link your PayPal balance to your iOS account so that you can use PayPal to pay for iTunes purchases as well as iCloud and Apple Music subscriptions.

Using Your PayPal Balance & Cards To Make Payments

PayPal offers Mastercard-backed debit cards for business and personal users, depending on what type of account you have. For consumers, there’s even a prepaid card that allows you to load your PayPal balance in set increments, among other perks. These cards are linked to your PayPal balance and even allow you to withdraw cash from ATMs at no charge from PayPal (non-MoneyPass ATMs will still charge a fee, though).

If you have one of these cards, you can also use your PayPal smartphone app at the register to add cash to your balance at supported stores (the following link lets you search for a supported store near you). However, a service fee of up to $3.95 applies when you do this.

Let’s take a closer look at PayPal’s debit cards.

What Does It Cost To Use PayPal In Stores?

For the customer, there is no cost to pay with PayPal, either in-store or online (provided that no currency conversion is involved).

For businesses, accepting PayPal transactions in person comes with fees just like it does online. As for how much it will cost, that depends on the payment method used to conduct the PayPal transaction, as well as your payment processor’s fee setup.

If you’re using PayPal as your payment processor for the transaction, this fee can also vary depending on the type of account you have. As these have grown quite complicated, we recommend checking out our complete guide to PayPal processing fees.

Can You Use PayPal Credit In Stores?

Currently, PayPal doesn’t support using PayPal Credit in stores. Note that PayPal Credit exists separately from PayPal’s credit cards. PayPal Credit specifically applies to online purchases and offers six months of no-interest financing on purchases.

Likewise, PayPal’s similar service, Pay in 4, is currently only available for online purchases.

Where Can You Pay With PayPal In Stores?

Any store that takes one of the previously described methods — PayPal cards, NFC, or PayPal QR codes — can accept PayPal. In the case of PayPal cards, this means any store that takes Mastercard.

Likewise, to accept NFC payments via Google Pay, merchants need to have the appropriate hardware — specifically, an NFC-capable credit card reader or terminal.

A growing number of large retailers take PayPal QR codes, and some small business merchants may as well, depending on their POS setup. Starbucks is an example of a large business that lets customers pay using a PayPal QR code, which customers can display at the register using the Starbucks mobile app.

Learn To Make The Most Of PayPal As A Business Or Customer

PayPal offers an almost dizzying array of payment tools for both consumers and merchants, and it’s likely we’ll see the features list grow even longer in the future. PayPal’s recent agreement with Fiserv has expanded the functionality of the PayPal app and made it far more convenient to utilize PayPal in person, including via Clover POS systems.

Looking for more information on PayPal? Check out our deep dive into how PayPal differs from a traditional merchant account.