
PayPal officially announced their entrance into the mobile payment world with the free “PayPal Here” reader and accompanying free iOS and Android application.
With the PayPal Here card reader and application PayPal has positioned themselves in direct competition with Square’s reader and accompanying iPad and iPhone applications. While PayPal Here isn’t nearly as evolved of a payment eco-system as Square, PayPal’s new foray does have a few simple advantages over Square’s offering, especially for those already heavily reliant on PayPal.
PayPal’s system can accept all major credit cards and manages to undercut Square's transaction fee by .05% coming in at 2.7% per transaction. Also, PayPal Here offers a few more ways to get paid outside of credit cards. Merchants can accept direct PayPal payments and checks, yes hand written checks, in addition to credit cards. The funds (except for payments via check) are available the same day in the user’s PayPal account.
The ability to create invoices and track cash payments is standard fare, but the odd triangular design of the reader itself is an interesting choice to say the least. But, it appears the Pay Here app allows merchants to add items to a simple inventory list. It’s no where near squares digital storefront, but definitely encouraging to have the added functionality this early.
Neither the reader or the accompanying app are available yet, but those interested can sign up to a mailing that will notify them as soon as the reader and the app are available. The additional payment methods definitely make PayPal Here an enticing offer. Still, Square has a big lead in terms of development, but PayPal has a massive user base to market their reader and app to. Competition is good, and it looks like PayPal could potentially dish Square a healthy dose.
Source: PayPal
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