Dive Brief: 

• Venmo, the digital payments platform owned by PayPal, launched a new campaign featuring “The White Lotus” stars Aimee Lou Wood and Patrick Schwarzenegger meant to celebrate the app’s various commerce solutions, according to a press release. 
• A 60-second spot set to a remixed version of the Black Sheep song “The Choice Is Yours” follows Wood and Schwarzenegger as they dance their way through various scenarios where they seamlessly make purchases using Venmo. 
• The campaign will appear across culturally relevant touchpoints including TV during the NBA finals, social media, podcasts and gaming platforms. The effort arrives as the platform’s commerce tools, including Pay with Venmo and the Venmo Debit Card, report double-digit growth. 

Dive Insight: 

Venmo is touting its full range of commerce capabilities for its latest campaign, an effort that is joined by the unveiling of several new benefits for consumers who use their Venmo balance beyond the peer-to-peer payments for which the platform is best known. The push comes as adoption of digital payments grows. Roughly nine in 10 consumers in both the U.S. and Europe report having made some form of digital payment over the past year, with the U.S. reaching a new high at 92%, according to McKinsey. 

At the center of the campaign is a 60-second spot, directed by Tajana Tokyo, that begins with Wood asking Schwarzenegger, “I thought Venmo was for paying people?” when she observes the star using his Venmo balance to book a rideshare. Schwarzenegger responds, “Yeah, and for everything else.” The duo then erupts into a dance number, supported by a fresh refrain for “The Choice Is Yours” (“You can Venmo this, you can Venmo that”), as they use Venmo to make a swath of purchases. 

Over 64 million U.S. consumers use Venmo each month for tasks like splitting meals, sending birthday gifts and paying their portion of rent, per release details. However, traction is growing for its other payment features. Total payment volume for its Pay with Venmo feature, which allows consumers to pay in-store, online and in-app using Venmo, was up over 50% in the first quarter and monthly active cardholders of the Venmo Debit Card grew 40%. The platform’s revenue saw a 20% lift year-over-year in Q1, while monthly active accounts grew 30%. 

Enlisting Wood and Schwarzenegger for the effort could help Venmo extend to new audiences and grow loyalty. “The White Lotus” is currently experiencing a surge in popularity and has built one of the largest followings of any HBO series. 

Other digital payment platforms have emphasized their shopping solutions, including PayPal, which launched its largest-ever U.S. advertising campaign in terms of spend and scale last year with Will Ferrell to showcase how easy it is to shop using its platform and Debit Mastercard. A year prior, Apple launched a “Pay the Apple Way” campaign promoting its Apple Pay service.

To support its campaign, Venmo also revealed limited-time cash back offers for brands popular among its users. Venmo Debit Card holders can earn 15% cash back from Sephora, Walmart, Lyft, McDonald’s and Walgreens. They can make purchases more easily with new features including tap-to-pay, automatic transfers and zero international transaction fees. Additionally, Venmo expanded its presence at checkout in-app and online, allowing consumers to pay using Venmo at brands including Instacart, Domino’s, Uber and TikTok Shop.