PayPal, in a Tie-Up With Walmart, Adds In-Store Cash Access

Consumers with PayPal accounts will be able to withdraw cash from, and deposit cash into, these accounts at participating U.S. Walmart Inc. locations, Walmart announced Thursday.

The deal means PayPal accountholders will pay $3 per cash-in and cash-out transaction. San Jose, Calif.-based PayPal says this is the first time its accountholders will be able to withdraw cash from their accounts in a store.

Users of the PayPal Cash Mastercard, a dual-interface chip card that uses funds kept in a consumer’s PayPal account for in-store and online transactions, also will be able to withdraw cash in Walmart stores for the same $3 fee. PayPal cash-in is available now at Walmart, with the cash-out function expected to be live by early November.

Bentonville, Ark.-based Walmart says in a press release that it is committed to expanding access to financial-services products. “With 90 percent of Americans living within 10 miles of a Walmart store, we know that offering PayPal cash in and cash out money services for an exclusive low fee is going to provide great value to the many people who rely on Walmart and PayPal to help manage and move their money,” Daniel Eckert, Walmart senior vice president of Walmart Services & Digital Acceleration, says in the press release.

With its roots in e-commerce, PayPal has long sought ways to make its service available to consumers in stores. In 2012, it began allowing users to make payments in select stores by entering a phone number and PIN code in the merchant’s point-of-sale terminal. Some major chains, including Home Depot Inc., adopted the service early on. PayPal followed that up a year later with a similar service that relied on a so-called payment code. PayPal ended both services earlier this year.

Other PayPal efforts at face-to-face commerce include the PayPal Here dongle, the acquisition last month of Europe’s iZettle AB, and the aforementioned cobranded Mastercard card issued by The Bancorp Bank.