PayPal has launched a new payment service called PayPal.me, a new take on peer-to-peer payments that allows users to quickly, and conveniently transfer funds. All that is required is a PayPal account and a working, compatible smartphone with internet access.
PayPal.me is a streamlined version of PayPal that also makes it easy for any PayPal user to set up a dedicated URL and their request payments from friends. You can share your link on social media for others to use. Simply hit the link, enter the amount you wish to send that person and hit send. PayPal will then wire the funds directly from your account to the one specified by hitting the connected URL.
The link itself is easy to remember, as users will claim their own usernames on the service. You can even personalize your link like PayPal.Me/RichIsTheBest or something similar. After setting up your username, you can also customize your profile theme and specify whether you are using the link for payments between friends and family, or for professional purposes, like goods and services. To receive payments you just send your link to a friend who clicks it, logs in with their own PayPal information, then reviews and completes the payment on one screen, optionally adding a personal note, if they choose.
To make it even easier on those paying, you can also append a number to the end of a personal link to pre-fill in the correct amount. For instance, paypal.me/username/50 would ask for $50.00.
This is not PayPal’s only entry into the peer-to-peer payments space, of course. In addition to offering a “request money” feature on its website, the company also operates Venmo. That social app is especially popular with a younger, highly mobile demographic who uses it as a way to do things like pay back friends for money borrowed, or split a check at a restaurant, for example.
Therefore, it may seem odd that PayPal is launching what at first appears to be something of a competitive product to Venmo. But the company explains that, unlike with Venmo, which only works with U.S. banks, credit and debit cards, PayPal.Me is targeting the company’s much broader global user base. Unlike the traditional online experience, using PayPal.Me is designed to take far fewer steps.
It is a neat service that works with both Android and iPhone, as well as desktop and various tablets. PayPal.Me is currently available in Austria, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the UK and US.
Source: PayPal.Me
