PayPal Here a mobile payments system, combining a hardware device that clips into your smart phone, along with an associate application. This turns your phone into a mobile credit card reader. PayPal Here is designed for small businesses and casual sellers to accept credit card and PayPal payments wherever they are.
If this sounds a little familiar, it’s because PayPal didn’t invent the technology, former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey’s company Square did. Square is already doing more than $4 million dollars of transactions per day in the US using the mobile payments system. Square is yet to land in Australia, so PayPal here may be inviting to Aussies seeking the functionality.
The PayPal Here reader plugs into the audio jack of your phone, when a credit card is swiped through the reader, the magnetic strip data is converted to digital bits which is interpreted by the PayPal Here application. Check out a demonstration video from PayPal below.
PayPal Here was released exclusively to a number small businesses, with general release expected toward the end of April.