PayPal and its Japanese partner, Softbank, have announced a new mobile package for retailers to boost the number of merchants using the card-reader dongle, PayPal Here.
Earlier this year, PayPal announced it was going to push the mobile card reader in Japan as well as other international markets. Though PayPal publically states thousands of merchants now are using PayPal Here, it hasn’t been the large scale success it was hoping for.
In a blog post, PayPal highlighted some of the reasons behind the slow adoption:
“Put simply, some of them just don’t want to take payments on their personal mobile phone. No one wants to be caught deciding whether to take a payment or answer a phone call from a loved one.”
The joint venture’s mobile package includes a data-only Android-enabled smartphone, a PayPal Here reader, a guide book, promotion stickers and other marketing materials. The package costs merchants $17.50 a month. The PayPal Here card reader effectively becomes free due to a new credit scheme that becomes active after the merchant’s first transaction.
Though merchant adoption of PayPal Here may have been slower than accepted, the new mobile package provided by PayPal and Softbank could provide that extra boost to tip the scales in favor of broad merchant use of the device.
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