PayPal Preparing to Launch New Mobile Payment System

PayPal has linked up with GlobalPlatform, the company that drives smart card infrastructure development, as it prepares to co-develop a standard to ensure interoperability across the payment industry.

Joining as a Participating Member, PayPal will play an active role in GlobalPlatform's Card Committee and its various working groups. Representatives from PayPal will also have the opportunity to participate fully on the GlobalPlatform Advisory Council and within the organization's Task Forces, including the important Mobile Task Force, sharing best practice and technical knowledge with other members.

Eric Duprat, General Manager at PayPal Mobile, comments: "Membership in GlobalPlatform is a logical step for PayPal. We recognize the value of sharing knowledge in a way that will benefit the industry as a whole through robust technical standards, greater interoperability and ultimately the wider adoption of online and mobile payments around the world."

Kevin Gillick, Executive Director of GlobalPlatform, adds: "The latest amendment to our Card Specifications aims to align GlobalPlatform smart card technology with web services. As such, we welcome PayPal as a world leader in web-enabled payments and look forward to its valued input that, alongside the work of other members, will help us achieve our priorities in 2009 and beyond."

This is a big step for PayPal towards establishing a larger role in the mobile payment market. PayPal is currently working on a system to allow customers to buy products using mobile devices. Such a system would go further to allow merchants to place advertising on displays, in-store ad's, and other outlets that would esentially allow the consumer to purchase the advertised product simply by text messaging a barcode number or similar to the number on the advertisement.

PayPal is the faster, safer way to pay and get paid online. The service allows anyone to pay without sharing financial information, with the flexibility to pay using their account balances, bank accounts, credit cards or promotional financing. With more than 70 million active accounts in 190 markets and 19 currencies around the world, PayPal enables global ecommerce. PayPal is an eBay company and is made up of three leading online payment services: the PayPal global payments platform, the Payflow Gateway, and Bill Me Later.