PayPal Reports Mobile Payments Reached $4 Billion in 2011

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PayPal Reports Mobile Payments Reached $4 Billion in 2011 [venturebeat.com]

If you need one example that epitomizes the massive potential in mobile payments, you need only look at PayPal.

The online payment company racked up nearly $4 billion worth of mobile payments last year, a huge jump from $750 million in 2010, PayPal mobile vice president David Marcus told VentureBeat in an interview today.

Putting the figure in an even crazier perspective, tallied up a mere $141 million in mobile payments in 2009.

[Deltron Zero]

My plumber used PayPal to run my Amex while he was here. I wonder how much of that $4 billion is just businesses like that who use PayPal as their payment processor.

[Sgt_Kickaxe]

Paypal isn't a technology, it's a website, and places like ebay make using it mandatory so the figures are highly inflated.

The clock is ticking too, when you want to buy something you need to sign up and account and then another account with paypal to be able to pay or receive payment? That's twice the hassle.

Canada has issued a better alternative, a chip implanted into traditional cards that can be plugged into any device to make a completely secure payment, including on your home computer or cell phone adapter. The chip is far more secure than traditional magnetic swipe bars. Paypal, not having any hardware or technology of their own, seems to be on a path that will take them the way of dial-up sooner rather than later.

The chip is not widespread in the US yet because of costs in upgrading store outlet checkout hardware, even in canada cards have both a magnetic swipe and a chip to make sure the card can be used anywhere...

Maybe that's why paypal is pushing a paypal credit/debit card so much right now?

[MrFewkes]

Yes - the real point on a site like this "webmasterworld" is to do with how much was via online payments over mobiles - rather than just a payment processor offline.

[Sgt_Kickaxe]

I agree MrFewkes but knowing where a company is headed is key when choosing companies to affiliate your websites with. eBay's stock price doesn't reflect the attitude of their press releases, imo, while competitors are springing ahead.

[dpd1]

The clock is ticking too, when you want to buy something you need to sign up and account and then another account with paypal to be able to pay or receive payment? That's twice the hassle.

You haven't needed to have a PP account to buy stuff through PP, for a long time now.

[piatkow]

when you want to buy something you need to sign up and account and then another account with paypal to be able to pay or receive payment? That's twice the hassle.

I have avoided merchants who insist on PP for a long time for this reason. I was pleasantly suprised recently when there was something that I could only find at a reasonable price from one PP using supplier. PP recognised my card number but instead of insisting that I log in to the account that I was never aware of opening offered me the alternative of paying direct from the card.

Maybe my fingers are too fat but I cannot type on a small screen accurately enough to make a payment through a smart phone and I object strongly to being made to pay extra to pay by SMS.