Paypal, the web-based payment protection service, has announced an exciting new development - a mobile credit card reader which allows consumers to enjoy on-the-fly transactions at small firms worldwide.
The move marks an important landmark for the firm, which is seeking to move into the mobile payment space. To this end, it has introduced "Paypal Here", which is a blue triangular reader which plugs into a smartphone's audio jack.
The firm explained that it has created a mobile phone app to control the payment service, which puts them in competition with Square and Google Wallet, the two leading services at present.
Launched at an event in San Francisco, Paypal observed that the app was designed to make the traditional "payment experience disappear". In a blog post, the firm explained: "It's designed to help ... merchants make more sales and grow their business with confidence."
PayPal Here is an all-around beautiful piece of technology, the firm said in the blog. "We spent spent considerable time (152 days, to be precise) with legendary designer Yves Béhar and his firm, Fuseproject, designing every aspect of PayPal Here - from the triangular card reader to the packaging," explained Anuj Nayar, the director of communications at PayPal.
"A lot of very gifted individuals worked tirelessly to ensure every last detail was perfect, and I have to say they did a great job."
Paypal observed that while the free reader currently works only on iPhones, an Android app is planned to start in April, meaning that the technology may soon become commonplace.
Launched in 1998, Paypal currently boasts around 100 million customers worldwide who use 25 different currencies.