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Citing a strong user preference for PayPal and Venmo, the digital-disbursements provider Onbe early Tuesday said it is adding the two channels to its menu of payment choices. The move brings two major payments platforms to the Chicago-based company’s payout options, which includes the mobile -payments providers Apple Pay and Samsung Pay as well as cards and automated clearing house transfers.
The agreement to add PayPal, as well as its peer-to-peer payment network Venmo, also comes as Onbe’s research indicates 73% of surveyed U.S. consumers want digital payments, while 60% prefer PayPal. The company’s research surveyed 1,230 consumers overall. Onbe processes disbursements, such as refunds and insurance payouts, as well as rebates and other incentives and corporate payments to workforce members.
The move to add the major payments platforms PayPal and Venmo will also bolster Onbe’s stake in fast-moving markets like employee payments, where such technologies as earned-wage access are growing in popularity and attracting increasing competition.
To simplify disbursements, Onbe in March launched “Send to Wallet,” a feature that allows users to add a virtual card to a mobile wallet from a Web browser. The feature does not require downloading an app or entering bank details.
With the availability of PayPal and its Venmo peer-to-peer payment platform, 25-year-old Onbe adds considerable heft to its platform, though Venmo will be available on the platform only in the U.S. market. PayPal reported $355 billion in payment volume in the first quarter, of which 26%, or $91 billion, came from the company’s peer-to-peer payment platforms Venmo and Xoom, as well as PayPal itself. Last week, PayPal announced it will make Venmo available to teenage children of PayPal users.
“We’re proud to incorporate PayPal and Venmo into Onbe’s unified payouts gateway, providing a single point of integration to access new modalities for our clients’ software platforms, further expanding on our promise to deliver convenience, speed, and security,” Bala Janakiraman, Onbe’s chief executive, said in a statement.
