It’s an exciting time to work at PayPal. Teams across the company are launching innovative, game-changing products every day, strengthening PayPal’s position as the worldwide leader in simple and secure online payments. Many of these products are paving new frontiers, transitioning the brand to articulate the flexibility and security of PayPal payment services and growing expansion into the merchant marketplace. PayPal is thrilled to announce that one of these products, PayPal Here, is poised for launch!
So what is PayPal Here? It’s a mobile payment solution comprised of a free app and a thumb-sized card reader that inserts into a smartphone, enabling merchants of all sizes to accept multiple forms of payment. It’s designed to help merchants increase their customer base and ensure they never miss sales opportunities. It also allows them to manage and track their transactions in one place, charge multiple tax rates, offer discounts and set up simple inventory lists. It’s also flexible. If the merchant forgets the card reader, no worries, they can automatically scan a credit card or snap a photo of a check. In fact, their customers don’t even need to have PayPal accounts!
So, how is this different from other mobile payment solutions? PayPal Here accepts more forms of payments than any other mobile payment solution. It uses special encryption to help protect card information as it swipes and offers competitive pricing at only 2.7 percent per swipe. Plus, funds are available instantly in the merchant’s PayPal account and can be accessed immediately with a debit card that delivers 1 percent cash backs on purchases. The prime differentiator, of course, is that is comes from PayPal, a trusted brand in the payments industry for more than a dozen years with more than 100 million customers worldwide, supporting more than 9 million global businesses.
“PayPal Here is our first truly global product launch, making it a huge accomplishment for PayPal,” said David Marcus, Vice President of PayPal Mobile. “We’ve worked incredibly hard to make PayPal Here the ultimate and complete solution for small merchants. From the design of the card reader to the functionality, ease of use and overall security, we’ve succeeded in bringing all of PayPal’s core strengths into this new product. And we think merchants and consumers are going to love it.”
“PayPal is transforming the US$1.3 trillion SMB retail market across the Asia Pacific region by enabling millions of small businesses to accept card and PayPal payments on a smartphone anytime, anywhere to grow their sales,” added Rupert Keeley, Senior Vice President, PayPal Asia Pacific. “We’re delighted to be the first in Asia Pacific to offer this innovative mobile solution with the widest choice of payment options to support the growth of small businesses in the region.”
PayPal Here will be available as an “exclusive release” in the United States, Canada, Hong Kong and Australia on March 15, 2012. This product will be made available to a beta group of merchants with a full merchant launch to follow soon after. The company is also gathering inquiries and product requests on the PayPal Here microsite.
A cross-functional team made up of countless teammates across the organization worked very hard to make this happen. “An enormous thank you goes out to all of those employees that have worked so tirelessly in making this product a reality,” said David. “Your commitment and pursuit of excellence is unmatched in our industry. It truly is an exciting time as we bring PayPal Here, and more of our innovation and expertise into new frontiers around the world.”
To see PayPal Here in action, check out the product demo and watch out for on-campus event invitations.