PayPal-owned Venmo announced a partnership with banking technology company Fiserv to offer gig workers the opportunity to get their paychecks and tax refunds deposited into their Venmo accounts. Venmo will also be able to accept deposits from insurance claim processes, the companies announced.

Why should we care?
Venmo may not be a bank, but it’s increasingly looking like one. With direct deposits, PayPal is aiming to make relationships with its customers stickier. For now, the toolset is available to Fiserv customers Lyft, State Farm, and FanDuel. PayPal and Fiserv are promoting the new offering to companies as a way to market themselves and enhance their visibility. “It’s really interesting with ride-share, drivers can literally get paid after the ride,” Nandan Sheth, global head of payments at Fiserv, said in an interview. “The benefit the company gets if they use the Venmo rails is [that] the logo of that company is embedded in the payment. It appears on the user’s social graph with a message. It gives brands an opportunity to get in front of the Venmo audience. It’s a two-part value proposition.” Together, PayPal and Venmo have more than 400 million active accounts. With the direct deposit capability, Venmo is competing directly with Square’s Cash App, which offers a similar feature.