PayPal in-store payments

Last year PayPal made clear its intention to become a major participant in the emerging market for in-store mobile payments with several steps. Among the biggest was a deal with credit card network Discover that would let PayPal users carry out payments at up to 7 million retail locations in the U.S.A.

That alliance began in April 2013, with PayPal’s payment system being integrated into the millions of point-of-sale terminals that support Discover Card payments.

That move speeds up e-Bay-owned PayPal’s expansion into in-store payments, which till now had focused on becoming partners with national retail chains, including Barnes & Noble, Foot Locker, Home Depot and JCPenney. During eBay’s first-quarter conference call on April 18, CEO John Donahoe said PayPal’s POS solution is already available in 20,000 stores through those deals.

In 2012, the company also rolled out its answer to Square in the form of PayPal Here, a payment system developed for small businesses, which allows them to accept credit and debit card payments via a card reader attachment for the iPhone, Android devices and the iPad. It also allows mobile payments through the consumer PayPal wallet application. (Android, iOS, Windows Phone)

With PayPal Here for small businesses, and direct partnerships with big retailers in place, CEO John Donahoe said Discover credit card would help PayPal cover more of retail mid-market. Among other options, Donahoe expects in-store payments via PayPal to be implemented at approximately 2 million offline businesses, with more to come in the next couple of years.

PayPal payments standard

PayPal Payments Standard is the fastest and easiest way to securely accept credit card and PayPal payments online. It’s a globally accepted payment system that enables you to collect payments from your customers in most popular currencies. It is a non-integrated method of accepting payments, meaning consumers leave the website to make a payment and return once the payment is completed.

In order to use PayPal as the payments gateway for your website, first set up a PayPal account. Follow these steps:

Step 1 – Set up your PayPal account

1. Log in to your PayPal account and select My Account > Profile.
2. In the Seller Preferences column, click Website Payment Preferences.
3. In the Auto Return for Website Payments section, select On.
4. In the Return URL field, enter your site’s secure address followed by /PaymentProcess.aspx
5. In the Payment Data Transfer section, select On and click Save.
6. Click Website Payment Preferences.
7. Scroll down to the Payment Data Transfer section and copy the Identity Token as this token is used in the next stage of the setup.

Step 2 – Set up PayPal on your website

1. Log in to the admin of your site and select E-Commerce > Payment Gateways.
2. In the PayPal Website Standard section, enter the primary email address associated with your PayPal account into the PayPal Customer ID field.
3. In the PDT Token field, paste the Identity Token from Step 1 and then click Save.

PayPal payments pro

PayPal’s Website Payments Pro is a great solution for businesses in the U.S., Canada, or the UK with large volumes of monthly payments who want a seamless integration – the ability for consumers to pay on your website. Website Payments Pro requires that you have a Premier or Business PayPal account, and the application can take a couple of days to process.

To integrate this gateway, all you need to do is obtain a Username, a Password and an API signature from PayPal and paste that information into your website’s Admin panel under eCommerce > Payment Gateways. Here are the steps you need to take in order to complete the integration of PayPal Payments Pro:

1. Go to the PayPal website and log in.
2. Go to My Account -> Profile
3. Click on Request API credentials
4. Under Option 1 – PayPal API, click on Set up PayPal API credentials and permissions
5. Under Option 2 – Request API credentials to create your own API username and password, click on View API Certificate.
6. Now, select Request API signature and click Agree and Submit.

When it comes to statistics, this year’s mobile payments made via PayPal will reach 20 billion dollars. The figures are showing a substantial increase, taking into account that in 2011 they reached 14 billion dollars and 141 million dollars in 2009.

The high level of smartphone adoption and the constantly increasing users’ trust in mobile services offered by PayPal, will be the factors that will contribute positively to this trend’s spread.

On the other hand, PayPal has redesigned its mobile app and also has added new functions, which offer clients an improved, fast safe mobile payment experience. Paypal’s mobile app allows to send, request and receive money in whichever moment and in whichever place.

Mobile users can add credit and debit cards or check their accounts and transaction histories at all times via their mobile devices. Besides, during June 2013 alone PayPal’s application recorded almost 29 million downloads in the whole world.

In the last years there have emerged lots of mobile payment methods, such as Google Wallet, Isis, NFC, GoPago, Level Up, QR Pay, Amazon Payments or Boku. Nonetheless, PayPal continues being the one mobile payment service that customers trust in. PayPal gained users’ trust over years, since it was one of the first alternatives to credit card online payments.