PayPal Readying Brick & Mortar Store Till Trial As Google Launches Credit Card
The competition in the electronic payments market continues to rage, with both Google and eBay looking beyond their current online and mobile payment options in an attempt to coerce more users and vendors to sign up. eBay's PayPal division, Forbes reports, is readying a trial of offline "point of sale" transaction support for brick and mortar retailers that will kick off later in 2011, while Google is setting up a credit card arm, Reuters reports, which will offer advertisers a way to buy ads now and pay for them later.
PayPal's system will kick off with a "major" retailer in the US before the year is out, eBay CEO John Donahoe revealed in the company's financial results call this week. The identity of that retailer isn't known, but PayPal is targeting up to 20 others across the US to jump on board through 2012.
"We're in a strong position in online payments to expand to point of sale [and] we intend to help retailers grow offline in the same way we helped merchants grow online" Donahoe said. "In this new retail world, consumers expect a seamless experience across physical stores, mobile, laptops or any Internet-connected device ... physical stores become just another point of access. Location alone is not enough. It's not an advantage."
However, despite unveiling an NFC-based Android payments system earlier this month, PayPal's retail system won't use the short-range wireless technology. Instead, existing card and mobile systems will be implemented, with retailers still cautious about NFC.
Google, meanwhile, is readying the AdWords Business credit card, targeted at small and medium businesses who lack the upfront funds to support a major advertising campaign. Powered by MasterCard and issued through the World Financial Capital Bank, it will offer an 8.99-percent APR and credit limits that vary by advertiser.
"Obviously we have a robust balance sheet, so this is a way for us to use that balance sheet to help our customers" Google Treasurer Brent Callinicos explained. "Even though [availability] will skew toward the smaller businesses, obviously we want to cast a wide enough net so we can see what resonates depending on your historical monthly spend."