As MMW reported Wednesday, PayPal was rumored to be working on a new mobile payment device to challenge the likes of Square and Intuit – makers of the two most dominant dongles in the mobile payments space today.
On Thursday, the rumor became reality as PayPal, the payments service giant owned by eBay, confirmed its next venture, one that puts the venerable digital titan squarely in Square’s mobile payments territory.
“PayPal Here” is the new service and its reaching the United States, Canada, Australia and Hong Kong beginning today. The service is billed as the world’s first global mobile payments solution that allows small businesses to accept almost any form of payment.
The new service includes a free app and fully encrypted thumb-sized card reader, which turns any iPhone, and soon Android smartphone, into a mobile payment solution. With PayPal Here, small businesses, service providers and casual sellers can send invoices or accept debit and credit cards, checks and PayPal using one simple product.
“Helping small businesses grow and accept payments has been in PayPal’s DNA since its inception 14 years ago,” said PayPal’s vice president of mobile, David Marcus. “We’ve heard small businesses loud and clear. They don’t want to miss sales opportunities because they can’t accept the payment type that their customers want to use. They want quick access to their money, a reliable card reader, and one transparent, low fee to process these payments. I’m thrilled to launch PayPal Here because we’ve been able to bring all of these key features together into a product that’s so simple to use.”
