PayPal starts testing seamless online store checkouts
PayPal can be a hassle for online shopping when you have to leave a store's site just to finish your transaction. Purchases should be much simpler once PayPal finishes rolling out its new In-Context Checkout, though. The technology lets you enter all your billing and shipping info through a pop-up; you never have to visit PayPal itself, and the interface remains simple regardless of what device you're using. Only a handful of stores are testing the new checkout format today, but the company promises that more large retailers will get to use it in the first half of 2014. Meanwhile, PayPal hasn't forgotten those who'd rather skip checkout altogether. It's expanding trials of its hands-free Beacon payment system to retailers in Canada, France, Germany and the UK; if all goes according to plan, the service will launch early this year.
