In today’s rapidly changing economy, small businesses need to be able to adapt quickly and evolve to stay competitive. During the pandemic, many service-based small business owners like dietitians, cooking instructors, therapists, or tutors started offering virtual classes and experiences as a safe alternative to in-person services. And while many consumers have returned to pre-pandemic habits, small businesses are still engaging customers on digital channels and need tools to easily accept payments.
As small businesses recognize that digital wallet users shop on average 19% more frequently compared to the traditional payment users1, they need innovative tools that allow them to more easily interact with their customers and accept payments. That’s why PayPal has worked with Microsoft to enable payments through Microsoft Teams directly into a small business’s PayPal account. This new feature allows a chef hosting a virtual cooking class to simply request payment through Microsoft Teams, see who has paid, and receive payments directly into their PayPal account, all while they have customers engaged with them during the meeting.
“Small businesses continue to face many, many challenges. Whether dealing with a cash flow crunch, finding new customers, or expanding to new channels, small businesses need partners to help them solve these problems,” said Bernardo Martinez, PayPal Vice President of Microbusiness. “Our collaboration with Microsoft allows us to address a common pain point — accepting payments for virtual customer interactions — by providing them with a trusted method that both consumers and businesses know well.”
“PayPal is a great partner and integrating their payment solutions will help small and medium businesses on Teams achieve more and drive their bottom line, said Brenna Robinson, general manager, SMBs, Modern Work, Microsoft. “This enables us both to better serve our mutual customers and help them grow their businesses”
With this new tool, small businesses can save time and effort by streamlining their payment processes, allowing them to focus on providing the best possible experience to their customers. This collaboration with Microsoft is an exciting development that helps further PayPal's mission to empower small businesses to grow and succeed.
1Online attitudinal survey commissioned by PayPal, June/July 2021 and conducted by Netfluential of 1,010 US online adult shoppers.