PayPal Here provides merchants with a free mobile application and a card reader that is inserted into a smartphone’s audio jack. Currently, PayPal Here is compatible with any iPhone, although Android apps will be released soon. Since its launch only weeks ago, more than 200,000 merchants have registered for the service. For comparison’s sake, Square has approximately 1 million users). This system is similar to the ones already offered by VeriFone, Intuit and Square. One major different, however, is that PayPal Here is available outside the U.S. in markets such as Canada, Australia and Hong Kong. According to Will Ferguson, VP of PayPal’s Mobile division:
We’re shipping thousands of readers out each week and we will continue to ramp up distribution. Demand remains very strong and we still have thousands of businesses signing up every day, despite the fact we haven’t even started our marketing programs yet.
PayPal Here is one of a number of methods that PayPal is using in order to expand its presence at the point-of-sale. In addition, PayPal has been working with merchants (e.g., Home Depot), terminal manufacturers (e.g., Ingenico) and other players in the payments space (e.g., Tabbedout) to find ways to enable consumers to pay with their PayPal accounts at brick-and-mortar establishments.
Click here to read more from PayPal’s blog.