CVS Will Become First National Retailer To Use PayPal And Venmo For Touch-Free Payment

TOPLINE

PayPal Holdings, which owns PayPal and Venmo, announced Thursday that CVS Pharmacy will be the first national retailer to integrate PayPal and Venmo QR code technology at checkout, as the coronavirus pandemic has caused an increased interest in touch-free payment.

KEY FACTS

crucial quote

“In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, digital payments have become more important and essential than ever. Our record performance in the second quarter — our strongest quarter ever — reaffirms the relevance of PayPal in the unfolding digital future,” President and CEO Dan Schulman said in the quarterly report filed Wednesday. 

key background

In the second quarter of 2020, cash flow from operations was $2.4 percent, up 103% year-over-year, and the company brought in $5.26 billion in revenue, up 25% year-over-year. On Wednesday, stock prices increased from $178.45 at opening to $184.6 at close. By Thursday the closing price was $192.51 and the market cap was $206.94 billion, up from $112.3 billion at the end of March. The stock price has increased by 66.61% in the last 52 weeks. 

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346 million. PayPal Holdings says it has that many accounts across its subsidiaries after adding 21.3 million during the second quarter. 

tangent

In 2012, PayPal Holdings launched partnerships with at least 16 major retailers including Home Depot, Barnes & Noble and JC Penney. However, customers had to enter a PIN code or swipe a PayPal credit card at checkout so it wasn’t touch-free. Even with this new InComm partnership, PayPal Holdings faces competition from payment apps by Apple, Google and others and contactless credit cards issued by major banks.