After debuting its in-store mobile payments technology PayPal
Here in the UK two weeks ago, the payments giant is announcing another set of
news around the product: a new iPad app. Not only is this the first iPad app
for PayPal Here, but this actually the company’s first native app for the
tablet ever.
Last year,
PayPal launched Here, a triangular dongle that plugs into an iPhone or Android
device to read the magnetic strip on the back of a card— similar to the
square-shaped dongle produced by rival Square. PayPal says that an iPad app was
a hugely requested feature from its “hundreds of thousands” of merchant users.
In fact, many users were simply magnifying the iPhone app to fit the iPad.
Today, the iPad app has finally been release, and it will compete with the
likes of Square’s iPad register app, Square Register.
The app’s
design is different from its iPhone cousin and has been optimized for the
larger touch screen of the device. The app allows for multiple employee logins
within one account, which is a key feature for any larger merchants or chains.
Once you login, you are taken to the register which allows you to enter the
total into the keyboard and take a payment in a variety of ways, including
swiping the credit card using PayPal Here, entering the number manually,
scanning the card using Card.io’s acquired technology, accepting a check, or
using cash.
Once the
transaction is approved, you can email, text or print a recept. Merchants can
also see which customers have checkin via the PayPal app.
There are a
number of other interesting technologies built-in as well. The app has
integrated eBay’s RedLaser technology to allow users to scan barcodes to
purchase items (which is not included in Square Register yet). Users can also
use the scanning feature to add inventory to the app, to allow for an easier
checkout process. Merchants can also manually add items to the menu so cashiers
can simply pick an item from a list to add to a bill amount.
In terms of
backend technology, the iPad app shows merchants sales history, a daily summary
of sales, gross sales to date, taxes, tips, discounts. You can also wirelessly
connect the app to a cash drawer and printer. While the app could replace a
register, PayPal says that it also is integrating into existing POS solutions
from NCR, Vend, Kounta, Erply, Leapset and Shopkeep.
For now, the
register only works in the U.S. with the PayPal Here dongle but eventually the
app will be integrated with the company’s international offerings as well.
In late
February, PayPal Here debuted its new hardware to accommodate the chip-based cards
in the UK and other parts of the world, competing with some of the local
payments companies like iZettle. But PayPal says the response to the UK reader
has been positive and already the company has had 11,000 merchants express
interest in using the technology. As mentioned above, the company says PayPal
Here in the U.S. is being used by hundreds of thousands of merchants, and is
growing at a fair pace in terms of usage (which is still less than Square)
That being
said, Square and Square Register has had a leg up on this market in the U.S.
because it has been out for longer, and in that time has innovated its iPad app
several times. But the market is huge, especially among
small to mid size chains and a little competition should be interesting and
helps push companies to innovate faster.
[Source]
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