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America’s cash-free future is just around the corner
Shake Shack's next burger joint at Astor Place in NYC doesn't want your money -- at least not the physical variety. In an effort to reduce the "friction time" between paying for your meal and eating it, the company plans to replace human cashiers for automated kiosks which won't accept actual bills and coins, only cards. This move is part of a global trend away from cash-based economies and towards Star Wars-style credits. But could such a monetary revolution actually benefit all Americans? Don't bet on it.
You can buy Nintendo games with Paypal now
PayPal has been on the Xbox One and PS4 stores since day one of each, but so far, Nintendo users haven't had the option. That has changed, though, as Nintendo says that Switch owners can now pay for games with PayPal directly on the console's eShop or at its web store. Wii U and 3DS owners, meanwhile, can't use PayPal directly from their consoles, but can use the payment service to buy games from Nintendo's online store.
US citizen allegedly used fake eBay sales to hide ISIS funding
According to FBI records, US citizen Mohamed Elshinawy used fake eBay sales to bring in ISIS funding for terror attacks, reports the Wall Street Journal. As part of a financial network with operatives in Britain and Bangladesh, Elshinawy pretended to sell printers on the site in order to get PayPal payments from Islamic State groups abroad.
PayPal made digital money cards to send to your friends
Remember those birthday and Christmas cards you used to get from family as a kid? They were no Game Boys or PlayStations, but they were still pretty sweet because there was almost always a few bucks tucked inside. Now, PayPal has launched a virtual counterpart to the "money card" meant to be sent to friends along with, say, your share of the dinner bill or something to help them during a difficult time.
Transfer PayPal funds mid-chat with Skype’s ‘Send Money’ feature
Skype and PayPal have teamed up to make it easier for you to transfer money to someone mid-conversation. If you're talking to a pal through the Skype mobile app and remember you need to reimburse them for those drinks they bought the other night, just swipe right and tap the new "Send Money" feature. PayPal will take it from there.
PayPal taps into your Chase and Citibank accounts
Paypal-owned mobile payment app Venmo opened up third-party app support last year in an attempt to capture more money via more merchant transactions, including those from Poshmark, Parking Panda, and Delivery.com. The service has a competitor, of course, backed by more than 30 major US banks. Zelle promises easy money transfer between the bank's own apps without having to go through a middleman like Paypal or Facebook Messenger. Two of the banks involved with Zelle, Citibank and Chase, however, have just partnered with Paypal.
Samsung Pay will soon tap into your PayPal account
Samsung Pay has been steadily increasing its payment options since it debuted two years ago, and now it's adding a new vendor to its services. Soon, Samsung Pay users will be able to use PayPal in-app, in-store and online.
Apple adds PayPal as payment option for iTunes
You probably already have a credit card associated with your Apple ID to pay for any app, music, movie or book. But if you want to use your PayPal balance or just prefer paying for everything via PayPal, you can now do just that. Starting today, you can use PayPal for any iTunes, App Store or Apple Music transaction made through an iPhone, an iPad or an iPod using your PayPal account. PayPal promises to make the feature available in other locations, including the US "soon after," though it didn't give a timeframe for the rollout. The feature is now available for iOS users in the US, UK, Canada, Mexico, Australia, Austria, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain.
Elon Musk buys his old X.com domain from PayPal
Elon Musk is without a doubt the most famous single-letter domain owner ever, as his company X.com eventually became PayPal. Unfortunately, when Musk was pushed out, the domain (with its aught-tastic logo, above) stayed behind with PayPal. However, the SpaceX and Tesla CEO has bought it back for an unknown sum, according to Domain Investing and a tweet by Musk. Nobody's saying how much he paid, but as a term of reference, Z.com sold for around $6.8 million three years ago.
PayPal 'instantly' transfers money to your bank account
PayPal can be frustrating if you want to put funds in your bank account. It can take a day or more for transfers to go through, and that's a problem when rival services like Zelle can promise speedier access to your money without needing a separate app. To that end, PayPal is rolling out an instant transfer option in the US. So long as you're willing to accept a 25-cent transaction fee, your funds will hit your bank account within a few minutes, and no more than 30 minutes in the worst cases. If you withdraw money from PayPal before a shopping trip, it should be ready to use by the time you get to the store.
Zelle takes on Venmo from within your bank's app
From Venmo and PayPal to Facebook Messenger, Google Wallet and even iMessage, there are plenty of ways to send money to your friends online. But these all require your contacts to have accounts set up to receive funds, which often causes friction when you're using different services or they don't want to download new apps. A new tool called Zelle should solve that problem. It works with more than 30 major US banks to allow interbank transfer from within each company's app, so you or your friends don't have to set up new profiles or crowd up your already-cluttered phones with more downloads.
PayPal sues Pandora over confusingly similar logos
Back in October, Pandora donned a new look and launched a new logo that looked very familiar to anyone who's ever used PayPal before. Now the online payment system is taking Pandora to court, accusing it of ripping off its iconic logo to ride on its popularity. It had some savage words for the music streaming service in the lawsuit it filed, telling the court that Pandora decided on a logo design similar to its own to overcome "serious commercial challenges that threaten its very survival." After all, the filing reads, "Pandora has no obvious path to profitability" as a streaming website known for free service, and it also faces "overwhelming competition from Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music."
Android Pay can soon dip into your PayPal account
Now that Android Pay is gaining steam around the world two years after its debut, it's become a convenient way to check out without reaching for your credit or debit card. For people who don't have plastic, however, making use of Android Pay just got a bit easier. That is, if you're a PayPal user in the US. Thanks to an update announced today, you'll soon be able to activate your PayPal account in Android Pay and use it online, in apps and in physical stores.
Square's payment service arrives in the UK
When Jack Dorsey isn't preoccupied with his CEO role at Twitter, he's also busy running the other company he founded, Square. It's all about money, and is primarily known for little devices that, when paired with its mobile app, quickly get small businesses set up to take card, contactless and mobile payments. Today, the company made its first move into the UK (and Europe, in fact), launching the latest iteration of its Square Reader for £39 (plus VAT), so hopefully you needn't go hungry next time when you walk into your local cafe with a wallet full of plastic.
Tech titans back transgender student's Supreme Court case
Apple has officially signed an amicus brief in support of Gavin Grimm's case that's hitting the Supreme Court later this month. In addition, Cupertino has successfully helped convince other tech titans to support the transgender student's fight for the right to use the bathroom that matches his gender identity. According to TechCrunch, the company worked with non-profit org Human Rights Campaign to reach out to potential signatories in the tech industry. Their crusade was so successful, tech corporations ended up dominating the list of 53 companies that signed the brief.
Apple, other tech giants will support transgender student's case
Several tech titans plan to sign an amicus (friend of the court) brief in support of a 17-year-old transgender student's fight in court, according to Axios. Apple, Microsoft, IBM, PayPal, eBay, Airbnb, Box, Yelp, GitHub, Salesforce, Slack and Tumblr are expected to back Gavin Grimm's legal battle against his school board for the right to use the bathroom that matches his gender identity. The amicus brief, created by LGBT organization Human Rights Campaign, will be filed in favor of Grimm for the Supreme Court hearing scheduled to take place on March 28th.
Transgender protection rollback sparks opposition from tech
On Wednesday, the Trump administration announced that it would roll back federal protections for transgender citizens and require states and local school boards to decide how (or, more accurately, whether) they would enforce these people's civil rights. Given that Silicon Valley tech companies routinely portray themselves as paragons of diversity and tolerance, these companies would surely be equally incensed at the government's current attempts to regulate where children can pee. However, the responses so far have failed to directly address the president's recent actions, instead generally relying on passive statements that extol their valuation of diversity and inclusion.
Jaguar and Shell partner for in-car fuel payments
Luxury automaker Jaguar Land Rover has partnered with Shell to make fueling up a touch more convenient. That's because everyone who owns a vehicle equipped with the company's InControl Apps will be able to pay for gas without ever leaving the driver's seat. All you need is the Shell mobile app, either a PayPal or Apple Pay account and at least $40,000 for one of the supported cars and you too can take advantage of the new feature.
PayPal's Slack bot makes recouping the office bar tab easy
Slack is a popular way for teams to communicate in the office and bots make the app a lot more helpful with a number of tasks. Thanks to PayPal, there's a simple way for you to send money to a colleague or friend if they grab your coffee or pick up a bar tab after work. With the PayPal Slack bot, all you have to do is type "/PayPal send $5 to (insert username here)" and the funds will be on their way.
You can now tell Siri to send money via PayPal
Siri is still very much a walled garden, but Apple has slowly begun opening its voice assistant to third parties. At its WWDC keynote back in June, the company confirmed app makers could let iPhone and iPad users send and receive money via Siri, with Square Cash and Monzo becoming the first to tap into that functionality. Now, bigger players are tapping into hands-free money transfers, after PayPal announced it too now lets users in over 30 countries send and request money via using only their voice.
