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Tag: paypal

  • PayPal Here, Mobile Payment Solution

    PayPal has launched its own mobile payment solution, PayPal Here. The new service includes a free application and a secured card reader attachable to the mobile phone, transforming any iPhone – and soon, any Android smartphone – into a mobile payment solution. Along with PayPal Here, PayPal has launched the latest version of PayPal Mobile for iPhone, complementary application with PayPal Here, available for free in App Store.

    PayPal Here is not only for individual users but also to small business owners, service providers and other merchants who can issue invoices and accept credit or debit cards, checks or payments through PayPal. Regardless the mode of payment chosen by the consumer, PayPal Here facilitates the transfer, providing small business with opportunities to sell products and services.

    Accessing the option "Local" gives PayPal Here users the possibility to find out what stores near them accept payments through this service. Once he is ready to buy, the customer notifies the dealer through a simple touch. In turn, the seller uses PayPal Here to accept payments by simply mentioning the name and the photo of the buyer.

    PayPal Here has a competitive structure in terms of fees. The service does not include initial charges for using it or monthly fees, the only fee paid by merchants being equal to 2.7% of the payments received by credit card or PayPal.

    Merchants who use PayPal Here have at their disposal business debit cards for quick access to money. When using cards for shopping, they get back 1% of the price of certain products, which makes practically the commission paid to PayPal Here to fall to only 1.7%.

    For now, the solution is used by some traders in the United States, Canada, Australia and Hong Kong, following to be available nationwide in these country starting from April and, subsequently, to be extended to other countries. Also in April, PayPal Here will be available for Android smartphones.

  • Google Wallet, Launch Followed by Trial

    Google faces a trial, just few hours after the launch of a free application designed to replace the classic credit cards and which turns a smartphone into an "electronic wallet".

    In the trial issued against Google in a Californian Court, the company was accused of using PayPal and eBay’s technology for the newly launched Google Wallet application. Google officials did not comment on these allegations.

    In the document filed in court states that PayPal specialists working for about three years at a technology that allows payments using smartphones with operating system and that the people at Google have mastered the technology illegally, hiring the Head of the project, Osama Bedier.

    Bedier has worked in online financial services unit owned by eBay as the Vice-President of the mobile platform until he was hired (in January) by Google. He played an important role at the official launch of Google Wallet, which took place Thursday in New York, during which he stated that the service is being tested and will be available this summer.

    What is Google Wallet?

    Google Wallet will be available initially only for Google Nexus S 4G terminals from Sprint and will be extended later to other phones equipped with Near Field Communication (NFC).

    The NFC chip embedded in mobile device allows a user, who previously entered his bank card details, to use his terminal to make purchases via the PayPass payment systems from Citi MasterCard.

    Customers can also use a Google prepaid card to pay for purchases, benefiting from Google Offers advantages – the online system of coupons of the American company, which claims that Google Wallet will be accepted by more than 124,000 U.S. merchants and more than 311,000 worldwide.

    The application will require a PIN for each transaction. Payment credentials will be encrypted and stored on a chip, the safety feature of the phone. The application itself will be free for the users.

    Stephanie Tilenius, Vice-President for Trade and Payments Division at Google, describes Google Wallet as "the next generation of mobile commerce”: “We are building an opened trading ecosystem that will bring, in premiere, the opportunity to pay with a NFC wallet and to announce the consumers all promotions – all of them with just a touch, while the user will make his shopping offline," said Tilenius, who added that the system will first expand in Europe and then Asia.

    Who and what betrayed

    PayPal says that Tilenius (who was also an employee of eBay, from 2001 until October 2009 as a consultant) helped Bedier’s recruitment by Google and quoted both company’s executives as defendants in a civil lawsuit based on the misuse of trading secrets.

    Bedier was accused that he would revealed Google certain secrets on PayPal projects. PayPal and Google have collaborated over the past three years to establish a technology developed on the PayPal platform that would serve as payment option using the mobile apps from the Android smartphones.

    NFC – the future wallet

    Mobile payments are already tested and used by several countries, notably France and Japan, but Google Wallet is the first service that brings NFC in U.S. stores. NFC technology uses short-range wireless communications action to allow the exchange of encrypted information between devices at short distance.

    Three of the largest providers of mobile communications in the U.S. – AT & T, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless – have announced in November 2010 that have joined forces to establish a national network called "Isis" to allow the payments via mobile phones, the service being introduced in the next 18 months. Google executive, Eric Schmidt, said shortly before the launch of the Nexus S, in December 2010, that the NFC technology it’s expected to take the place of the classic credit cards.

  • Litigation Issues May Hamper Ebay's Skype Spin-off


    eBay today announced it plans to spin Skype off as a stand alone publicly traded company in the first half of 2010.

    Action at last. But surely the VoIP provider’s parent company has to resolve legal issues centred around its core P2P technology – and involving Skype’s founders – before the planned Initial Public Offering (IPO) can take place?

    The IPO move follows mounting pressure for eBay to act over Skype’s future, which despite its success has "limited synergies" with the ecommerce giant.

    As eBay’s President and CEO, John Donahoe, said in a company statement: "Skype is a great stand-alone business with strong fundamentals and accelerating momentum.
    "But it’s clear that Skype has limited synergies with eBay and PayPal.

    "We believe operating Skype as a stand-alone publicly traded company is the best path for maximizing its potential.

    "This will give Skype the focus and resources required to continue its growth and effectively compete in online voice and video communications.

    "In addition, separating Skype will allow eBay to focus entirely on our two core growth engine – e-commerce and online payments – and deliver long-term value to our stockholders."

    While the IPO move suggests eBay is preparing to sell Skype to an outside buyer, there is still the question of a possible bid from the founders of Skype Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis.

    The London-based pair are reported to have approached a number of private equity firms and are gathering their own personal resources to make an offer for Skype.

    To complicate issues, a company controlled by Niklas and Janus, JoltID, sued Skype over the issue of core P2P technology. Skype/EBay later filed a counter suit.

    So the possibility of on-going litigation will surely need to be cleared up before an IPO can be considered.

    The thorny question of a realistic price – and willing buyer – for Skype is another hindrance to eBay off-loading it.

    Analysts believe eBay wants at least USD $1.7 billion, this being the value of the calling service on its balance sheet after it wrote off part of the acquisition in 2007.

    eBay bought Skype in 2005 for USD $2.6 billion,, with subsequent payments raising this sum to USD $3.1 billion.

    Skype had sales of USD $551 million in 2008 and ended the year with 405 million registered users. Skype expects to top USD $1 billion in revenue in 2011, nearly doubling 2008 revenues.

    Should be an interesting few months ahead for everyone involved.