Private Label Card: PayPal Announcing Plastic PayPal Card
- PayPal is getting started in physical acceptance and intends to propose the PayPal Card to its 100 million active account holders by first semester 2012.
- This private label mag-stripe card will be used with most POS devices after software update and will be tested in the end of 2011. PayPal account holders will have to apply for it. The card will not bear any name or account number: only the PayPal logo will be displayed. All transactions will be PIN-secured. Payments using a PayPal prepaid account or means of payments included in the customer’s e-wallet will be possible (including cards and loyalty rewards).
- Along with this announcement, PayPal has also mentioned a second means of payment, “Empty Hands”, designed to allow PIN-secured cardless transactions using the customer’s mobile phone number.
- Both these solutions are related to the PayPal app to enable Smartphone based reception of geolocated discount vouchers to be used with partner accepting merchants.
- No information has been disclosed as of the card’s Acceptance pricing. Nevertheless, according to PayPal, this commission should be based on its existing model.
- This announcement asserts PayPal’s will to access the physical card market and helps further erase the distinction between online and POS purchases. It also upholds the notion of connected commerce.
- PayPal is planning to aggregate several means of payment and act as a “universal adaptor”, or payment facilitator, regardless of the technologies or platforms in use.
- PayPal’s positioning differs from its rivals’: it even seems to be neglecting the development of NFC solutions for a while. As an historical Internet pure player it benefits from significant customer and merchant bases. This could provide for its multi-sector deployment.