PayPal Here, a payment system that pairs phones with a chip and pin device to take credit card payments will launch in the United Kingdom.
The payment device involves an app, for Androids and iPhones currently, which pairs with the chip and pin reader. Enter an amount, ask your customer to enter their PIN and once a secure payment has been taken, text or send them a receipt. If you’re stuck, the app has a ‘call us’ button in-built. Simple.
The emphasis will of course be on ‘secure’ and the app working well. PayPal said the device would debut at Mobile World Congress and launch in the UK first, available to “select” businesses over the coming months for an initial purchase price and a fee for each transaction before full launch in the summer, after which it would be made available to other chip and PIN markets. Actual pricing would be announced closer to launch, the company said.
PayPal’s already launched a device for swipe cards in countries where this payment method predominates, such as the United States, it said.
The focus was on small, cash-based businesses using chip and PIN cards and on making it easier for them to offer customers an alternative to cash, PayPal global product vice president Hill Ferguson said.
Mr Ferguson said small organizations were the core of PayPal’s business.
“They’ve told us that they want a simple, secure way to take card payments anytime and anywhere they trade.”
Makes sense
Ovum principal analyst Eden Zoller said the UK was the logical place to start, since it was PayPal’s second biggest market outside the US with some 18 million active users.
The device was designed and built in the UK over a year, she said.
“But it will come with a price tag and this will need to be competitive given the solution is meant for small businesses. PayPal says this will be the case ‘ it is not looking to make money from the device itself.”
Mobile credit card solutions address a need
Mobile credit card readers appeared to address a genuine need in the market in providing an easy and convenient way for small businesses to accept card payments without having to shell out for processing equipment.
“The market for these solutions is becoming increasingly competitive and PayPal Here is not the first of its kind in Europe, where the likes of iZettle, Payleven and mPowa have already launched. But PayPal has an advantage in being an established, trusted payment provider with a high profile global brand.”