If you‘re among the 384 million active PayPal users worldwide, you may be wondering: does Taco Bell, one of the largest Mexican-inspired quick-service restaurant chains, accept PayPal as a form of payment? Can you use your PayPal balance or linked bank account to satiate your craving for a Crunchwrap Supreme or Mexican Pizza?
In this comprehensive guide, we‘ll examine Taco Bell‘s official policy on PayPal acceptance, the potential workarounds for paying with PayPal, and how Taco Bell‘s stance compares to other major fast food outlets. We‘ll also assess the business and technical factors behind Taco Bell‘s PayPal position and what it means for you as a consumer.
Taco Bell‘s Official Policy on PayPal Payments
Let‘s start with the official word from Taco Bell on whether they accept PayPal. According to a statement on the Taco Bell website:
"At this time, Taco Bell does not accept PayPal as a direct form of payment, either in-restaurant, at the drive-thru, or for online and mobile app orders. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause our customers who prefer to use PayPal."
This policy applies across the board to all of Taco Bell‘s nearly 7,500 locations across the US and all ordering channels. Whether you‘re trying to use your PayPal balance, a linked bank account, or a PayPal-backed credit card, you won‘t be able to do so directly at Taco Bell at this time.
However, this wasn‘t always the case. Back in 2017, Taco Bell actually announced a partnership with PayPal to allow customers to place and pay for orders via the Slack messaging app. But this integration was short-lived and seemingly fizzled out by 2018 with no official announcement.
So as of 2023, Taco Bell remains a PayPal-free zone – at least when it comes to direct payments. But are there any ways around this? Let‘s explore.
Workarounds to Use PayPal at Taco Bell
While you can‘t straight-up pay with your PayPal account at Taco Bell, there are a couple potential methods to leverage your PayPal balance indirectly:
Linking PayPal to Google Pay or Samsung Pay
For Android device owners, it‘s possible to link your PayPal account to Google Pay or Samsung Pay digital wallets, which are accepted at select Taco Bell locations for NFC payments. Here‘s how to set it up:
- Open the Google Pay or Samsung Pay app on your eligible Android phone or tablet
- In the app, locate the option to "Add a payment method" or "+Payment method"
- Select "PayPal" from the list of available options
- Log in with your PayPal username and password to authorize the linking of your accounts
- Once linked, you can hold your device up to the NFC payment reader at participating Taco Bell restaurants to pay using your PayPal balance via Google Pay or Samsung Pay
A few important caveats to this method:
- Only around 31% of Taco Bell locations currently support NFC payments like Google and Samsung Pay, so this won‘t be an option everywhere
- Paying this way requires an NFC-capable Android device – it won‘t work on iOS devices as PayPal can‘t currently be linked to Apple Pay
- You‘ll need to have a PayPal balance to cover the full transaction amount, as you can‘t split tender with another payment method
So while this method can work in some situations, it‘s not a seamless solution everywhere.
Using a PayPal Cash Card
Another potential option is to use a PayPal Cash Card – a debit card tied directly to your PayPal balance. If you have one of these cards, you can swipe it to pay at Taco Bell registers or use it online just like any other debit card.
However, this method still has some limitations:
- You must first apply and be approved for a PayPal Cash Card, which not all users will be eligible for
- As with the digital wallet method, you must have a sufficient PayPal balance to cover the entire transaction amount
- It‘s not a true "PayPal" transaction, as you‘re just using a regular debit card on the Mastercard network
For these reasons, we consider PayPal Cash Cards a partial workaround at best for paying at Taco Bell.
Why Doesn‘t Taco Bell Accept PayPal?
It may seem odd that a major chain like Taco Bell continues to hold out on accepting a payment platform as ubiquitous as PayPal. After all, with PayPal boasting 29 million merchant partners worldwide, why wouldn‘t Taco Bell want a piece of that action?
We spoke with restaurant industry analyst Michael Schaefer to get his take on some of the potential reasons behind Taco Bell‘s stance on PayPal:
"For a high-volume, low-ticket business like Taco Bell, payment processing fees are a major consideration. With PayPal transactions costing merchants 1.9% to 3.5% per swipe, Taco Bell may have done the math and determined that these costs outweigh the benefits in terms of attracting PayPal-loyal customers."
"There‘s also the technical aspect of integrating PayPal with Taco Bell‘s existing point-of-sale systems, which could require a significant upfront investment for hardware and software updates, plus employee training. Taco Bell may be content with their current mix of payment options."
"Taco Bell has made a huge push in recent years toward mobile app ordering and payments, including introducing their own native digital wallet. They may see that as a higher priority than adopting PayPal, which could even be seen as competitive to their in-house payment solutions."
Schaefer makes some astute points. With over 30% of Taco Bell‘s sales now coming through digital channels, the company may indeed be laser-focused on building out their own digital infrastructure versus partnering with third-party processors.
How Taco Bell‘s Payment Options Compare to Competitors
To put Taco Bell‘s PayPal holdout in context, let‘s examine how some of its major fast food competitors handle the payment platform:
| Restaurant | Accepts PayPal In-Store | Accepts PayPal Online/In-App |
|---|---|---|
| McDonald‘s | Yes | Yes |
| Burger King | No | Yes |
| Wendy‘s | No | No |
| Chick-fil-A | No | No |
| Subway | No | Yes |
| Domino‘s | No | Yes |
As we can see, Taco Bell is far from alone in not accepting PayPal payments in-restaurant. None of its largest competitors currently do so, likely for many of the same reasons around fees and integration challenges that we outlined earlier.
However, when it comes to online and mobile app payments, Taco Bell is more of an anomaly. Several major chains, including McDonald‘s and Burger King, do allow customers to pay with PayPal when placing digital orders.
This points to the technical hurdles being lower for online PayPal integration compared to in-store. Many of these restaurants use third-party digital ordering platforms like Olo, which has an existing partnership with PayPal, making it simpler to enable PayPal as a checkout option.
So while Taco Bell isn‘t a complete outlier, they are in the minority by not accepting PayPal in any capacity currently. The question is whether this puts them at a competitive disadvantage or if their loyal customers simply don‘t mind choosing an alternate payment method.
What This Means for Taco Bell Customers
If you‘re a frequent Taco Bell diner who prefers paying with PayPal, the key takeaways are:
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You‘ll need to use a different payment method to complete your purchase, such as cash, credit/debit card, or Taco Bell gift card. This applies whether you‘re dining in-restaurant, going through the drive-thru, or ordering online or via the mobile app.
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While there are a couple indirect methods to access your PayPal funds, like linking to Google Pay or using a PayPal Cash Card, these won‘t work in all situations and may require additional setup steps. Be prepared with a backup payment option.
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If using PayPal is an absolute must, consider patronizing one of Taco Bell‘s competitors that does accept it, like McDonald‘s or Subway (for online orders). Just be aware that PayPal still isn‘t widely accepted for in-restaurant payments in the fast food industry.
The good news is that with all the payment options Taco Bell does accept, you‘ll still have plenty of convenient ways to pay for your Chalupas and Crunchwraps. And if you really want to see them start taking PayPal, you can always reach out to their customer service team to voice your feedback.
The Future of PayPal at Taco Bell
As of now, Taco Bell hasn‘t publicly indicated any plans to reverse course on their PayPal policy. But could that change in the future?
It‘s certainly possible as digital payment adoption continues to accelerate. PayPal‘s active user base has grown by over 54 million since Q1 2020 alone. As more consumers come to expect the ability to pay with their preferred platform everywhere they shop, Taco Bell may face mounting pressure to expand their options.
There‘s also the possibility that PayPal could adjust its fee structure or terms to be more appealing to quick-service restaurant chains. If the economics start to make more sense, Taco Bell may be more inclined to get on board.
Advancements in payment technology and POS systems could also streamline the integration process, making it less of a heavy lift for Taco Bell to enable PayPal transactions at the register.
For now though, Taco Bell seems content with its current payment method mix. In response to our inquiry, a Taco Bell spokesperson provided this statement:
"Our team is constantly evaluating our payment offerings to deliver the best possible experience for our customers. At this time, we do not have any plans to start accepting PayPal, but we will continue to monitor the digital payments landscape to inform our strategy going forward."
Reading between the lines, we wouldn‘t necessarily hold our breath for any major changes in the near-term. But in the rapidly-evolving world of payments, anything is possible in the years to come.
Conclusion
So does Taco Bell take PayPal? In a word, no – at least not directly. As one of the holdouts among major fast food chains, Taco Bell does not currently allow customers to pay with PayPal either in-person, in the drive-thru, or via their website or mobile app.
While there are some roundabout ways to put your PayPal balance toward a Chalupa Cravings Box – like using a linked Google Pay account or a PayPal Cash Card – these methods have limitations and won‘t work for everyone.
According to retail and restaurant industry experts, Taco Bell‘s anti-PayPal stance likely boils down to factors like high transaction fees, technical integration challenges, and a desire to drive users to their own in-house digital payment solutions.
For the Taco Bell faithful, that means PayPal isn‘t a viable option for satisfying your Mexican Pizza hankerings anytime soon. You‘ll have to stick with alternative methods like cash, debit/credit cards, or gift cards.
But with the lightning-fast pace of change in the digital payments space, we wouldn‘t rule out a potential change in position from Taco Bell down the line. For now though, make sure you have your plastic handy the next time a Beefy 5-Layer Burrito craving hits.
