PayPal becomes first payments wallet to be available to ChatGPT users; here’s how it will work

PayPal has finalised an agreement with OpenAI to embed its digital wallet into ChatGPT. This will allow the users of the popular chatbot to pay for goods and services found through the AI tool. PayPal has confirmed the deal, which will allow both PayPal users and merchants to engage with the AI platform starting next year.

According to PayPal CEO Alex Chriss, users can purchase items through ChatGPT, and PayPal merchants can list their inventory and sell products there. In an interview with CNBC, Chriss said: “We’ve got hundreds of millions of loyal PayPal wallet holders who now will be able to click the ‘Buy with PayPal button’ on ChatGPT and have a safe and secure checkout experience.” Here’s how ChatGPT users can use PayPal for payments.

How ChatGPT users will be able to use PayPal for payments

PayPal said that it will handle merchant routing, payment validation, and other background processes for its sellers using ChatGPT. This means individual merchants won’t need to create separate accounts with OpenAI.Chriss highlighted that both consumers and merchants are verified through PayPal, which helps reduce fraud risk for all parties. Users can make payments with linked bank accounts, credit cards, or stored balances, and receive protections such as package tracking and dispute resolution.

“It’s not just that a transaction can happen. This is a trusted set of merchants, the largest merchant network in the world from PayPal, that are verified, with the largest set of verified consumers in a consumer wallet,” Chriss explained.PayPal also announced plans to broaden its internal use of OpenAI’s enterprise AI tools to improve product development efficiency.The move places PayPal among the early partners in OpenAI’s plan to expand ChatGPT’s role in e-commerce. The idea is that its more than 700 million weekly users can use AI to discover products in a way similar to how a personal shopper would assist. Last month, OpenAI said ChatGPT users could make purchases from Shopify and Etsy sellers, followed by an e-commerce partnership with Walmart announced two weeks later.“It’s a whole new paradigm for shopping. It’s hard to imagine that agentic commerce isn’t going to be a big part of the future,” Chriss added.PayPal is positioning itself as a key payments provider in the emerging field of agentic AI-driven shopping. The company has also formed partnerships with Google and AI startup Perplexity.