Apple is finally playing nicely with PayPal by allowing its users to set PayPal as their payment method. This means that Apple fans in 12 countries will now be able to use PayPal to pay for purchases from the App Store, Apple Music, iTunes, and iBooks. Which previously wasn't possible.
Apple has always maintained a tight grip over the payment methods used on its platforms. Which was bad news for PayPal users and even worse news for PayPal itself. Now, Apple is relinquishing a little bit of control over how you pay for stuff while ensconced in the Apple ecosystem...
Using PayPal as a Payment Method
Until now the only people able to use PayPal to pay for purchases on iTunes et al were U.S. users accessing iTunes via the desktop app. Now, Apple is extending support so that anyone in 12 countries can use PayPal to pay for purchases on their iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Mac, or PC.
The 12 countries are the U.S., the UK, Canada, Mexico, Australia, Austria, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain. Not only can PayPal be used to pay for apps and media, but it can also be used to pay for recurring subscriptions such as Apple Music and iCloud.
Adding PayPal as a payment option is really simple. Just head to the settings menu on your device, find your Account Settings, select PayPal as a new payment method, and sign into your PayPal account. If you set it as the default all future payments will come through PayPal.
Funding the Apple Ecosystem
This may seem like a small change, but it's important for two reasons. 1. It opens up a new revenue stream for PayPal, which was previously blocked from funding the Apple ecosystem. 2. It suggests Apple is willing to cede control if it thinks the benefits outweigh the disadvantages.
We'd hazard a guess that Apple thinks that this will encourage more people to buy stuff on iTunes and the App Store. Even if PayPal has the potential to take business away from Apple's own Apple Pay. Thus the benefit of hooking more people into its ecosystem outweighs the downsides.
Do you regularly buy stuff from iTunes and the App Store? If so, what payment method have you been using up to now? Are you likely to switch to using PayPal once the option becomes available? If so, why? If not, why not? Please let us know in the comments below!
Image Credit: fdecomite via Flickr