SXSW: How Merchants Can Accept PayPal Payments With a Smartphone

PayPal Here and Wallet appsLots of companies are working on ways to use smartphone payments to streamline the ordering process. PayPal’s entry into the market is particularly interesting, since so many people have a PayPal account already. Plus, their app isn’t tied to ordering from a specific establishment (like paying with your phone at Starbucks). Instead, PayPal’s app could let you order just about anywhere.

From the customer side, the app is called PayPal Wallet. The merchant app is PayPal Here, which lets merchants accept and send money.

So how would it work? Check out the demo video below from SXSW. You use your phone to “check-in” at a destination, which automatically lets a merchant start a tab for you. The example below is ordering drinks, but it’s easy enough to imagine lots of possibilities for the app in the future!

PayPal Here Credit Card Reader Ready to Compete With Square?

PayPal Here Card ReaderLove it or loathe it, a large number of small businesses already depend on PayPal’s merchant services. It makes sense that the eBay-owned company (that also has its hands in a ton of online merchant’s pockets) would release a mobile credit card reader, called PayPal Here for small businesses looking to step away from the cash register.

PayPal Here is similar to, and in direct competition of, services like Verifone’s PAYware, Intuit’s GoPayment, and of course, Square’s popular dongle. One of the main differences between PayPal Here and the others is immediate access to funds versus waiting for several days to access funds with the rest. That is one of the things in my mind that keeps PayPal on top of eCommerce pyramid, despite it’s issues. Read More

Accept Checks Electronically from Customers with Updated PayPal iPhone App

*Just another reason why I need an iPhone*

With my Square credit card reader now in my possession, I can now accept credit cards from customers on site without a merchant account via my iPad. But, there are some customers who are still holding on to writing checks. I hate going to the bank, so the idea of electronically depositing checks into my business account via my smartphone would be the ultimate business tool for me.

Well another heavily used business tool of mine is PayPal, and it has just released a new version its iPhone app to do just that. By taking a picture of the front and back of the check, I can send the images to my PayPal account (which is linked to my business account) and wait for the money to be deposited.

Until now, Chase and USAA were the only two financial institutions with iPhone apps to process checks electronically. Now that PayPal has stepped into the arena (with its MILLIONS of users) to ease folk’s minds about electronic check deposits, look for more institutions to jump on the bandwagon.

*Your move Bank of America*

I will make sure to keep you posted on if and/or when PayPal will release this functionality to rest of us without iPhones *sad face*