Mobile Payments, PayPal and the Future of Your Wallet
Gone are the days of the bulky billfold, various plastic credit cards and that irritating 16-digit card number.
With last week’s debut of PayPal’s Mobile Express Checkout, the tech blogosphere has erupted with online chatter surrounding the world of electronic commerce. Let’s face it- There are countless reasons for optimism. The landscape is already highly competitive, with applications ranging from Square to Boku, and the fast-paced lifestyle of U.S. consumers would fully support the demand for this kind of innovative technology. Even eBay CEO, John Donahue, has boldly stepped forward to proclaim mobile as the “safest form of payment,” making mainstream adoption that much closer to reality.
What’s interesting about PayPal’s newest initiative in mobile commerce comes with their joint announcement of PayPal Local, an iPhone application that introduces location-based features allowing users to find nearby businesses that accept PayPal. Imagine checking in to your favorite restaurant and discovering PayPal as an accepted form of payment! This mobile pairing has the potential to streamline the process of asking for the bill, waiting (sometimes, praying) for transaction completion and returning the receipt to the server.
It’s official. Mobile commerce has evolved from the stage of conceptualization. We now understand how real, tangible expressions within this space will quickly lead to mainstream adoption.