In the past month, PayPal has been rapidly announcing developments to the mPOS line it launched a year ago with the PayPal Here dongle. PayPal has been working with Softbank in Japan to make the card reader available in 2,700 Japanese retail locations and business sales networks. The e-commerce giant also has registered interest from almost 11,000 small businesses in the United Kingdom for a forthcoming chip-and-PIN mPOS reader.
Most recently, PayPal launched an iPad app that enables merchants to use their iPad tablets as a POS device:
The new app offers the ability to scan barcodes and wirelessly connect to a cash drawer and printer. Sales activity is tracked in a ‘daily summary’ report.
File this as one more attempt by PayPal to bring its brand to the point-of-sale. While the original smartphone apps target the smallest merchants that are unable to accept payment cards without an mPOS solution, such as artists and street vendors, tablet-based solutions such as the one released by PayPal tend to focus on slightly larger merchants, such as restaurants and salons. These merchants are able to afford traditional POS solutions, but often opt for mPOS based on lower costs and greater functionality. By providing an iPad app, PayPal is making their mPOS solution appealing to a number of additional merchants.
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