PayPal announced that Tap to Pay functionality would be coming to the Venmo Android app for those with business profiles and PayPal Zettle businesses. The new tool requires no extra hardware and opens the gates for contactless payments wherever it’s needed.
PayPal is a preferred method of managing money for a lot of people, and that’s because it makes everything really easy, for the most part. Last year, Android Pay (now Google Pay) and Samsung Pay both announced support for the service as a payment method, but Samsung never came through. Now, though, it seems the switch has finally been flipped on.
Samsung just announced a new partnership with PayPal, bringing support for the online financial giant to its popular mobile payment service. Starting today in the US and coming to other markets soon, PayPal users will be able to add their account and use funds just like any other bank to make purchases wherever Samsung Pay is accepted. Customers will also still receive Samsung Pay benefits like rewards points and gift cards.
Despite the rising popularity of services like Cash and even some social networks like Facebook and Snapchat, PayPal is still the leading peer-to-peer money service on the market. Nearly every shopping site on the web offers a PayPal option during checkout, with the company handling over $7 million in transfers every hour. Now, the company aims to make it quicker and easier to transfer funds to bank accounts.
Android Pay is a solid service, but if there’s one thing that’s terrible about it, it’s the lack of supported banks. Google has done a lot to expand the reach of the service to more banks and credit unions, but a lot of users still lack the option. Now we’re getting a huge shortcut for that thanks to PayPal support.
A new “strategic collaboration” will allow Android Pay to use PayPal as a payment method. This notably expands PayPal’s reach beyond just online merchants and into any brick-and-mortar store where Google’s payment service is already accepted.
Google started accepting PayPal payments for Google Play app purchases earlier this year in 12 countries, including the US, France and Germany. Today, the company has expanded this payment option to Australia, Greece, New Zealand, Portugal, Singapore and Sweden.
Wether it be Android Wear or Tizen calling the shots, Samsung already has a lot of smartwatches on the market and it’s rumored that the South Korean electronics maker is currently working on a new high-tech timepiece that can process mobile payments. According to Business Korea, this unannounced smartwatch will reportedly rely on a fingerprint scanner to verify its wearer’s identity, and will use a payment processing platform developed by PayPal.
Small businesses looking to take occasional card payments without paying monthly fees now have a third option as Amazon has launched Local Register to compete with Square and PayPal Here – as we predicted last month over on 9to5Mac. The $10 card-reader is currently only compatible with the Samsung Galaxy S3, S4 and S5, along with the Kindle Fire HD and HDX tablets, but more devices are expected to be added.
Amazon is undercutting both competitor services with a flat fee of 2.5 percent per transaction (vs 2.7 percent for PayPal Here and 2.75 percent for Square). Not enough? Amazon is sweetening the deal with a special introductory rate of 1.75 percent until the end of 2015, and will also credit the $10 cost of the cardreader in full against transaction fees … Expand Expanding Close
PayPal updated its Android app today and while version 5.5 introduces a couple of new features, it also manages to take something away. Bringing the software up to speed with its iOS-powered counterpart, you can now link loyalty cards to your account, which should hopefully make your wallet a few grams lighter. There’s also some “behind the scenes” work that speeds up login times, something that’s always welcomed with any application.
New data from App Annie shows that revenue from apps downloaded via the Google Play store more than doubled between the first quarters of 2013 and 2014 – and that a staggering 98 percent of it comes from in-app purchases in apps that were free to download.
Games continue to dominate the charts, accounting for 40 percent of all downloads but 90 percent of revenues, up from 80 percent last year … Expand Expanding Close
The hack relies on photographing a latent print from something like a glass in a bar, then using lab techniques to transfer the image of the print into wood glue, which is then applied to someone else’s finger to activate the sensor … Expand Expanding Close
If you’ve been debating on upgrading to the Samsung Galaxy S5, there are definitely a few things you need to know. Is it worth upgrading to Samsung’s latest flagship smartphone? If you currently own a Galaxy S4, you may be better off waiting for the Galaxy S6. In the video above, we compare the features and specifications between the Samsung Galaxy S5 and Galaxy S4. In the video above, we’ve laid out all of the facts to help you make an informed decision.
Just a day after Google launched a physical card to allow you to more easily withdraw cash and spend your Google Wallet balance, the company has released an update to the Android app allowing you to add additional cards just by photographing them.
Add a credit/debit card just by taking a picture. Both the number and expiration date will be captured automatically …
There is a new sheriff in town for the mobile payments arena—or at least that’s what VentureBeat described in a report on the newly formed Mobile Payments Committee.
Electronic Transactions Association CEO Jason Oxman announced the group’s genesis in an interview this morning, where he explained the committee boasts representation from the four leading U.S. carriers.
AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile have apparently united to grapple with mobile payments, and it appears Google, PayPal, ISIS, VeriFone, and Intuit are also members, while Verizon Executive Director of Federal Relations Jackie Moran serves as the group’s chair.
According to VentureBeat, the Mobile Payments Committee will:
Sure…the tech is a couple of years old, but the Sony Ericsson LiveView is now only $19.99 on eBay.
This remote, Bluetooth-enabled wearable display for Android smartphones once listed nearly five times the above amount, but folks can currently pick it up at a bargain price and have it shipped standard for free. The estimated delivery time is between July 25 and July 31, and the only payment form accepted is PayPal.
The product ships with a clip, wristband, microUSB charger with Intl adapter, and a U.S. power adapter.
The unlocked Samsung Galaxy S III has not officially released in the United States, nor have pricing details, but at least one seller on eBay is offering the 16GB version for just $649.99.
The listing offers free standard shipping to the United States and Canada with a 30-day money back guarantee, and the top-rated seller has near-perfect feedback based on thousands of reviews. Hurry and purchase this off-contract device now, because the eBay page indicates “limited quantity available.” PayPal is the only form of payment accepted.
Michael Moritz, a former member of Google’s Board of Directors, announced today that he is stepping down from his managing partner post at venture firm Sequoia Capital due to an incurable disease.
He will now become a chairman at the top-tier firm that has backed many startups-turned-goldmines in the last 20 years, including Google, PayPal, and Yahoo. The title change will curtail daily activity involvement so Moritz can focus on living a full life while beating the odds.
The letter Moritz sent to limited partners this morning is below (via TechCrunch):
Dear …,
We have always tried to be straightforward with you and, in that spirt, I need to share something. Unfortunately, I have been diagnosed with a rare medical condition which can be managed but is incurable. I’ve been told that in the next five to ten years the quality of my life is quite likely to decline. Right now I feel fitter than ever and I hope that I’ll be one of the lucky ones who can live a full life and defy the statisticians. But there is no way of predicting this with certainty and thus for me, life has assumed a different meaning and I am making some adjustments.
I am going to extract myself from the daily management of Sequoia Capital, a task that has consumed a large part of my time for the past sixteen years. I will become Chairman of Sequoia Capital and will be deeply involved with nurturing the fresh investments, ideas and relationships that can be of significant long-term benefit for all of us. I will also work very closely with some of our younger and newer members, will continue my role as Managing Member of existing funds and maintain all my current company responsibilities. I will use twelve to fourteen weeks – sprinkled throughout the course of each year – for various pursuits, diversions and trivial indulgences.
Nothing about this should cause much of a change because everything that has been achieved at Sequoia Capital has resulted from the teamwork and contribution of many people. Our overall business is in the best shape it has ever been and we are better positioned than at any time in our forty year history. Doug Leone will assume full responsibility for coordinating the business we have gradually developed over the past couple of decades and almost everything else remains entirely the same.