The PayPal-owned app Venmo, which provides a peer-to-peer payment service, is taking on Apple Pay and Samsung Pay by opening its platform for third-party apps and services.
Venmo announced on Wednesday that is now allowing some users to make in-app purchases with its new "Pay with Venmo" program.
Venmo uses will be able to make payments directly in their favorite apps; however, the program is limited to supporting just the event ticket app Gametime and the food delivery service Munchery at this time. The company stated that it plans to add more third-party merchant apps, as well as additional functionality.
Similar to the button provided on websites that allows consumers to check out using PayPal, the Pay with Venmo app now features a Venmo button inside the merchant's app. The user just has to tap on the Venmo button and the app will connect to the Venmo app to make the payment. The merchant app will authenticate the user's Venmo account, and the user does not have to re-enter payment information. No payment details will be shared with the third-party apps.
Users can also share their purchase costs with their friends if they wish, and can track all their purchases using the Venmo app.
Pay with Venmo is setting itself apart from other mobile payment services like Apple Pay by allowing its users to split the bill. The user has the choice to split the bill either on the spot or later.
Venmo is also a cross-platform app; however, Pay with Venmo will roll out to a limited amount of iOS users initially. It is starting initially with a limited release, then plans to add new users as it goes, emailing users as their number comes up.
Source: Venmo
