Google Play Now Lets Users Pay With Venmo

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. —

Google said Monday it is adding Venmo as a payment option on Google Play, giving Android users a new way to buy apps, games, add-ons and other digital content, according to TechCrunch.

Users will be able to pay with their Venmo wallet balance or with a bank account or card linked to their Venmo account, TechCrunch reported. The option also covers subscriptions and tips for creators inside various apps.

To turn it on, users need to go to the payment methods section of their Google account settings and link a Venmo account, according to both TechCrunch and Engadget. Once it's connected, Engadget reported, the option works across other Google services as well, including YouTube.

Joining a crowded lineup

Venmo joins a payment list that already includes PayPal, Cash App and major card networks such as American Express, Visa, Mastercard, Discover and JCB for Google Play users in the United States, TechCrunch reported. Outside the country, Google has also tested letting people pay for digital purchases with cash at physical stores, according to TechCrunch.

The update comes as spending on mobile apps and games keeps climbing. Combined user spending on in-app purchases across Apple's iOS and the Google Play Store topped $167 billion in 2025, up 10.6 percent from the year before, according to a report from the analytics firm Sensor Tower cited by TechCrunch.

Part of a bigger shift in app payments

The move also comes soon after Google opened the Play Store to outside billing options in the United States, the United Kingdom and Europe, a change tied to its legal settlement with the video game maker Epic Games, according to Engadget. That settlement lets app developers point users to alternative payment systems or their own websites instead of Google's built-in checkout.

Engadget noted that some of those alternative payment options offered directly by developers might not include Venmo, meaning the new option will not necessarily be available everywhere inside the Play Store even after Monday's rollout.

Neither TechCrunch nor Engadget reported whether Google plans to expand Venmo payments to markets outside the United States, or whether Apple has any similar plans for its own App Store.