Back in March PayPal launched their Square competitor, PayPal Here. Like Square, PayPal Here is a mobile payments solution geared primarily to small businesses (though any business can use it). The service includes a free app available for both iOS and Android, and a credit card reader that plugs into the headphone jack of your mobile device of choice.
PayPal Here grew very popular very quickly. In the first 24 hours the service saw a thousand sign-ups per hour. PayPal Here is currently only available in the U.S, Canada, Australia and Hong Kong. Customers who use the service are charged 2.7% per transaction (0.05% lower than Square’s fee).
In a blog post today, Hill Ferguson, vice president of PayPal Mobile, provided a few updates on how far the service has come in the six weeks since its launch. In the update, Ferguson says that more than 200,000 merchants have signed up for PayPal Here in the countries where it is currently available, and that even more are on the waitlist. As anticipated, the tool has been particularly popular with small businesses, though larger organizations – including the YMCA – have also begun to take advantage of the service.
Despite the fact that there is a waitlist for merchants to join, and despite the fact that PayPal has not actually begun marketing the service yet, Ferguson says thousands of businesses continue to sign up for PayPal Here daily. At current rates, the waitlist should be cleared by June 25th.
Do you use PayPal Here? How does it compare to Square? Let us know what you think in the comments.
