CVS Pharmacy Taps PayPal And Venmo To Offer Touch-Free Payments

CVS Pharmacy has tapped PayPal and Venmo to offer touch-free payments in its stores, the companies have announced. There's an obvious reason for using contactless payments — you don't need to expose yourself to someone else's germs in order to pay for your goods, something particularly important during the coronavirus pandemic. The new checkout 'experience' is coming to more than 8,000 stores across the US.

CVS Pharmacy is sort of like a miniature 'big box store' — its big benefit is that in addition to having a pharmacy, it also offers many general items that one may need, eliminating the need to go to a larger store that may take longer to navigate. There are around 8,200 CVS stores in the United States.

Under this new deal, CVS customers will be able to pay for their items using their smartphone, PayPal and Venmo QR codes; by doing this, customers won't need to touch the payment terminal or receipt. Payment options will include PayPal Credit, an existing PayPal balance, a linked bank account, and stored credit and debit cards. As well, Venmo users will have the option of using their Venmo balance or rewards to pay at CVS.

This touch-free payment option doesn't involve any extra fees for the customer. Retailers like CVS can quickly integrate the new payment option into their existing terminals via PayPal's new deal with InComm. CVS plans to roll out the new support across its stores in the fourth quarter of this year, according to PayPal.

PayPal Executive VP Mark Britto said:

In the midst of COVID-19, we have seen an incredible acceleration of digital payments and touch-free payments. Companies of all types and sizes are looking for ways to maintain the safety of their customers and employees, especially through touch-free experiences like curbside pickup and enhanced online shopping. QR codes complement these and provide retailers an additional payment method that furthers this touch-free mission and continues the growth of digital payments for all partners in the ecosystem.