The idea of a world where consumers are free from carrying multiple debit and credit cards with them has picked up a head of steam over the last year. The biggest push for this concept may have come from Google Wallet, the company’s NFC-based payment solution. Google’s dream of a future where everyone uses Google Wallet won’t come to fruition if PayPal has any say, though.PayPal recently unveiled its new PayPal Wallet interface. Like Google Wallet, the service lets consumers spend anywhere that PayPal Wallet is accepted using a unified account. All a person needs to do is select what account they want to spend from, and either key in a PIN or use a PayPal credit card. The rest is handled by PayPal, without the buyer needing to carry around a card for each of their spending accounts.
The biggest differentiator for PayPal Wallet from Google Wallet is that PayPal’s new service isn’t based on NFC. While Google Wallet requires its users to have an NFC-enabled phone – something that is still a rarity in the world of smartphones – PayPal doesn’t require NFC. It will have support for NFC in the future, it won’t be required. Instead, users can use the aforementioned PayPal credit card or PIN method to verify purchases.
It’s a great idea, and one that PayPal is hoping will allow it to be a leader not just in online payments, but also in offline. When compared to Google Wallet, its largest competitor, the only major advantage that Google Wallet has is that it lets the user choose what payment method they want to use prior to the purchase. PayPal Wallet, meanwhile, uses a default payment method that can’t be conveniently changed prior to each purchase.
To make up for this shortcoming, PayPal Wallet lets its users change their payment method after the purchase has been made. For example, if a person sets their debit card to be their default payment method, then that’s what will be used in all PayPal Wallet purchases. Once that person gets home, though, they can log on to their PayPal account, single out the transaction and switch the funding source for it.
PayPal Wallet promises to be an innovative new service that will allow consumers to spend more while fumbling through different cards less. Because of this, business owners can benefit from implementing PayPal Wallet functionality. It takes away the roadblocks associated with traditional spending, and that means more sales for businesses. And, of course, more business for PayPal.
It’s a great idea, and one that PayPal is hoping will allow it to be a leader not just in online payments, but also in offline. When compared to Google Wallet, its largest competitor, the only major advantage that Google Wallet has is that it lets the user choose what payment method they want to use prior to the purchase. PayPal Wallet, meanwhile, uses a default payment method that can’t be conveniently changed prior to each purchase.
To make up for this shortcoming, PayPal Wallet lets its users change their payment method after the purchase has been made. For example, if a person sets their debit card to be their default payment method, then that’s what will be used in all PayPal Wallet purchases. Once that person gets home, though, they can log on to their PayPal account, single out the transaction and switch the funding source for it.
PayPal Wallet promises to be an innovative new service that will allow consumers to spend more while fumbling through different cards less. Because of this, business owners can benefit from implementing PayPal Wallet functionality. It takes away the roadblocks associated with traditional spending, and that means more sales for businesses. And, of course, more business for PayPal.
