PayPal is extending its retail presence: The online payment giant partners with credit card brand Discover, one of the larges card issues in the US, to bring PayPal to more than 7 million retail locations in the United States. Under the agreement, Discover enables participating merchants to accept PayPal via their existing relationship with Discover. To offer PayPal, merchants won’t have to upgrade existing point of sale hardware or software. Starting in 2013, the relationship will extend PayPal’s reach to millions of merchants across the US.

“This initiative will result in real change and innovation for the industry by bringing new technologies to the point of sale that benefit merchants and PayPal customers,” commented Diane Offereins, President of Discover Payment Services.

iZettle Launches Mobile Payment App for Android

After one month of beta testing, iZettle is now rolling out the commercial version of its mobile payment app for Android devices in Sweden. iZettle currently supports the Samsung Galaxy S II, S III and Note models, and is working to support more Android devices in the future. Read more…

McDonald’s Tests Mobile Payments via PayPal in France

McDonald’s is testing mobile payments via PayPal in 30 restaurants in France. During the trial, customers can order via their smartphone, pay with PayPal and pick up their food at a separate line. Read more…

Barclays to Launch Mobile Payment Service Pingit in Kenya

Barclays Pingit goes international – Barclays is extending its mobile payment service Pingit to Kenya. Pingit is a mobile person-to-person (p2p) payment service that allows users to receive and send money using their mobile phones. Read more…

Hamburg-based startup myTaxi has introduced a mobile payment solution for its taxi app that connects passengers and taxi drivers, making conventional taxi dispatch services obsolete. From now on myTaxi passengers can use the myTaxi app to order a taxi and pay for the journey.

The myTaxi founders Niclas Mewes and Sven Külper point out that their solution is the first mobile payment system that works without relying on additional hardware such as an external dongle, NFC-tags or QR-codes. “With myTaxi Payment, from now on, passengers will be able to travel by taxi without needing cash. They simply pay both cardless and cashless“, commented Mewes.

In order to use myTaxi, users have to download the myTaxi app. If they want to use the mobile payment feature they have to enter their payment details as well. MyTaxi is working with PayPal and payment service provider Wirecard to provide the payment service. The cab driver has to pay a 3.9% fee + €0.21 for each successful myTaxi journey – there is no extra charge for the passenger.

PayPal Acquires Visual Credit Card Scanner card.io

PayPal has acquired card.io, a startup that enables developers to capture credit card data using the build-in camera of a smartphone. With card.io, customers don’t have to enter their card information manually; it is retrieved automatically when the customer holds its card in front of the phones camera. The companies already had a close relation before the acquisition, card.io’s technology is powering the new PayPal Here product. Read more…

MasterCard Launches MasterCard Business Network for Small and Mid-Size Business

MasterCard is partnering with Rearden Commerce to launch the MasterCard Business Network site, a platform that helps small and medium sized business to manage and record their expenses. The platform is powered by Rearden Commerce’s Deem network that connects buyers and sellers across various industries. The MasterCard Business Network service is currently in beta status, a mobile app for Android, iPhone or Blackberry devices will be released soon. Read more…

Gift Card Payment Network Openbucks Raises $4.8 Million

Openbucks has closed $4.8 million in a funding round led by Yahoo co-founder, Jerry Yang. The Openbucks gift-card payment network allows consumers who don’t have credit cards or a bank account (or who prefer to keep their banking details private) to buy goods and service online. The company will use the investment to support its growth plans and increase its acceptance network. Read more…

Web application performance monitoring company New Relic has published an interesting infographic on payment gateway performance. New Relic pulled the data from all their customers that called an external payment gateway during the 20^th of April 2012. The data derived from more than 100,000 total gateway calls. In New Relic’s sample PayPal was the most popular provider, accounting for nearly 60% of all transactions followed by Authorize.Net, USA ePay and Stripe. Google Checkout came in 5^th but turned out to being the fastest gateway. Enjoy!

Micro Payment: Zynga and AmEx Introduce Online Virtual Rewards Program

American Express and Zynga join forces and launch an interesting online virtual rewards program: Zynga Serve Rewards. Players of Zynga’s social game FarmVille can earn rewards when using a co-branded American Express prepaid card. The service is based on AmEx’s online payment platform Serve. The digital wallet service was launched in March and integrates various payment methods into one online account. Similar reward programs will be introduced in additional games over the course of the year. Read more…

Micro Payment: Google adds In-app Subscriptions to Android

One year after starting in-app billing on Google Play, the official Android app marketplace, Google now supports in-app subscriptions. As of now, developers can start to sell monthly or annual subscriptions from inside of their apps. Google manages the transactions; developers only have to set the price point and billing interval. Read more…

Alternative Payment: PayPal Continues to Expand into the Retail World

PayPal is trying to become a major player for in-store payments. A new agreement with VeriFone and Equinox Payments, both are large point-of-sale terminal providers, enables more customers to pay with PayPal at retail stores across the U.S. The company is also partnering with 15 U.S. retailers that are going to implement PayPal’s retail payment solution. Read more…

Mobile Payment: iZettle Launches Mobile Card Reader in the UK

One year after the launch in Sweden, iZettle is preparing to launch in the UK. Stockholm-based iZettle provides a mobile payment service that allows businesses to accept card payments with their smartphone or tablet. The EMV-approved card reader, which is attached to the bottom of the device, allows users to take payments from chip-enabled credit or debit cards. During the trial phase iZettle will test its service with 3,000 individuals and small businesses in the UK. The commercial launch of iZettle in the UK is scheduled for later this year. Read more

Mobile Payment: MasterCard partners with Ogone to Bring PayPass Wallet to Europe

MasterCard has selected Ogone to become the first European payment services provider to offer PayPass Wallet. With PayPass Wallet consumers can store their payment details in a digital wallet and use it to make purchases online and in stores. The service is not limited to MasterCard branded cards, so consumers can use other credit, debit and prepaid cards. As a result of the partnership, online merchants that are using Ogone will be able to provide their customers the option to pay with PayPass Wallet. Read more

PayPal is Pushing Into Physical Stores: More Retailers to Adopt PayPal In-Store Payments

According to All Things D, PayPal will unveil new retailers that are going to accept PayPal as payment method next week. PayPal is very successful in online payments and is now moving into the retail market as well. So far PayPal Store Checkout is available at more than 2,000 Home Depot stores across the United States. With PayPal Store Checkout customers can pay with their mobile phone number and PIN or by swiping a PayPal card and entering the PIN. The purchases are linked directly to the customer’s PayPal account. Read more

Online payment platform WePay just announced that the company has secured a $10 million investment by venture capital firm Ignition Partners. The fresh funds will be used to scale WePay’s workforce and technology. It is expected that the company will launch several improvements including a mobile application in 2012.

Who is the “PayPal-rival” that reported a 10x growth in 2011? WePay was founded in 2008 by Bill Clerico and Rich Aberman with the goal to create an easy to use payment collection platform. The company is now headquartered in Palo Alto, CA and has raised a total of $20 million in funding. Among their investors are well known names such as Y Combinator, YouTube founder Steve Chen, and PayPal co-founder Max Levchin.

WePay started as an online group payment for individuals. Over time, the product portfolio evolved and WePay is now offering a range of payment solutions: sell items and tickets online, send bills online and accept donations online to individuals, small and medium-sized businesses and large merchants. WePay charges a fee of 3.5% ($0.50 minimum) for receiving credit card payments and a flat fee of $0.50 for bank payments. Currently WePay’s services are only available for users in the United States.

Check out the embedded video to see how WePay works:

Ebay CEO John Donahoe named David Marcus, founder and former CEO of mobile payment company Zong, to lead PayPal. David Marcus joined PayPal as VP of Mobile when the online payment giant took over carrier billing startup Zong last year. Effective of April 2, David Marcus will succeed Scott Thompson (he left the company in January) as President of PayPal.

As VP of Mobile for PayPal, Marcus has been working on PayPal Here, a mobile payment service for small business. The move shows how important mobile payments have become for PayPal and points the direction the company is heading. John Donahoe commented: “He will bring start-up energy to PayPal’s unmatched global reach and digital payments capabilities. And he will sharpen PayPal’s focus on accelerating product innovation, driving consumer engagement and making paying anytime, anywhere through your digital wallet a safe, easy and convenient experience.”

PayPal has revealed its new mobile payment solution for small business PayPal Here. Just like Jack Dorsey’s Square, PayPal Here enables small merchants to accept card payments. The service includes an app and a small card reader for smartphones and brings the online payments giant into local stores.

It is no surprise that PayPal is entering the mobile point of sale segment, the success of Square, Intuit GoPayment, and iZettle prove the increasing demand for such services. PayPal Here is part of PayPal’s multichannel strategy; the company is trying to provide payment solutions for online, offline and mobile business.

How does it work?

PayPal Here includes a small triangular card reader and a free app for iOS and Android devices, allowing merchants to accept payments by swiping cards. The card reader is full encrypted and PCI-compliant. The card information can also be manually entered into the app. Unlike its competitors PayPal Here also allows users to scan cards and checks using their phone cameras – a service provided by mobile payment startup card.io.

After signing up and downloading the PayPal Here app, merchants can immediately start accepting payments and receive funds directly into their PayPal account. Merchants pay a fee of 2.7% for each transaction. They will also receive a business debit card with 1 percent cash-back on eligible purchases, cutting the effective fees down to 1.7%. For comparison: Square’s merchant fee is 2.75% for each swiped transaction.

The PayPal Here card reader and merchant app will roll out in United States, Canada, Australia and Hong Kong within the next month (more countries to be announced soon).

Check out the embedded video to see how PayPal Here works: