Visa and PayPal are expanding their partnership in Canada to allow customers more ways to move money between accounts, and could lead to PayPal providing payments at physical locations.
PayPal users that hold Visa credit or debit cards have long been able to add those cards to PayPal as a payment option. Now completing that integration could be even easier, as banking apps could offer to complete the step for their users. It’s an extension of the partnership that PayPal and Visa already have in other regions, including the U.S., Asia-Pacific, and Europe.
PayPal also becomes a user of the Visa Direct program that was launched just yesterday. That will allow Visa cardholders to transfer any balance they are holding in PayPal to their bank accounts.
“Before today there was no way to remove money in real-time from a PayPal account,” says Brian Weiner, vice-president and head of product at Visa Canada. “Now you can do that with Visa Direct.”
PayPal will also join the Visa Digital Enablement Program, allowing it to access Visa’s tokenization services. This service could allow PayPal to provide a tap-to-pay feature through a digital wallet app, with Visa providing the payment capability.
As part of the deal, PayPal will also not prompt Visa cardholders to default back on paying with a bank account. Typically, the service requires a bank account be set as the primary payment account and automatically suggests it at checkout. Now, Visa cardholders can set their credit card to their primary payment option.