Canva has launched a PayPal Payment Links app inside its Marketplace, enabling its 265 million monthly users to embed a checkout directly into any design they create. Until now, Canva users who wanted to sell from their designs had to send customers to an external website or manage a separate storefront. The integration removes that step for creators and likely reduces friction for buyers as well.
Canva Embedded Payments: How It Works
A creator building a product flyer, a social media post, or a printed menu can now attach a PayPal payment link or QR code to that design, generating a PayPal-hosted checkout page customised with their own product images and pricing. Customers can pay via PayPal, Venmo, or Pay Later across nearly 200 markets. The integration went live on April 9 and is available globally.
The Case for a Full Embedded Payments Product
Since the solution targets classic B2C transactions, where consumers buy a ticket for a concert or access to a yoga class, PayPal is probably a really good choice. Most consumers know PayPal and already have an account. Therefore, most consumers don't need to enter payment details, and the checkout is pretty fast.
But my main question is whether Canva will eventually want to upgrade its payment solution. I could think of three reasons why this could make sense down the road. Firstly, PayPal is popular globally, but not everybody has an account, and in some markets, that is the majority of consumers. Why not let the consumer choose between PayPal and other payment options? Secondly, building a powerful embedded payment solution can be extremely beneficial from a revenue perspective. When working with PayPal, revenue sharing is either very limited or non-existent. Thirdly, and lastly, B2C payments within a design are a major use case, but there is more. Why not offer a B2B embedded payment solution where customers pay Canva creators for their work? Something we have already seen WeTransfer offering in a slightly different way (EFR). While it makes sense to start with a PayPal partnership, I would expect this solution to grow much bigger if the first version is successful.
