PayPal has introduced a mobile payments service dubbed 'PayPal Here'. The service aims to allow small businesses to accept almost any form of payment. The service includes a free app and card reader, which turns any iPhone, and soon Android smartphone, into a mobile payment service. With PayPal Here, small businesses, service providers and casual sellers can send invoices or accept debit and credit cards, checks and PayPal. Merchants can accept payments by swiping cards in the card reader, scanning cards and checks using their phone cameras, or manually entering card information into the app. They can also send an invoice and set payment terms directly from the app. PayPal has also released the latest version of its PayPal Mobile app for iPhone, a consumer app that complements PayPal Here. PayPal users will be able to use the "Local" feature on the PayPal app to find nearby businesses that accept PayPal Here. Once the customer is ready to pay, they can notify the merchant by a quick tap on their mobile phone. Merchants can use PayPal Here to accept the payment by referencing the shopper's name and picture. Merchants pay a flat rate of 2.7 percent for card swipes and PayPal payments. The PayPal Here card reader and merchant app for iPhone are both available to select merchants in the US, Canada, Australia and Hong Kong. It will be generally available in those countries next month. The Android version of the PayPal Here merchant app will also be available at that time. PayPal will announce the availability of PayPal Here in more countries soon. The updated PayPal app for iPhone is already available in the iOS App Store.
