Paypal goes mobile

Posted Wednesday, March 22, 2006 at 9:26pm in Blogging  | 

Paypal, the online secure payment system has gone mobile, allowing users to make payments using their mobile phones. Simply log into your Paypal account, click on your profile page and then click on the ‘phone’ option. You then have the opportunity to ‘confirm’ your phone by typing in your own unique pin number where Paypal will subsequently call you for confirmation.

I’m a frequent eBay user (student + study = skint), thus I have a Paypal account. I’ve just signed my mobile up for the facility but I’m having one or two issues at the moment. I wait for the confirmation call and nothing happens. So I click on the link again, and it says: “We tried to call you, but the number you provided is invalid. Only US, UK, and Canadian phone numbers are currently supported. Please check your number and try again when you are able to answer the phone.”

Erm, I have a UK mobile number? I’ve tried it with and without the country code but alas. Suppose they’re experiencing a high volume of users testing it out at the moment.

As well as this, Paypal has also rolled out a ‘Text to Buy’ (membership needed) option where it says: “Whenever you see Text to Buy next to something you want to buy - on a poster, in a magazine, at an event - you can order the item securely by text message. Use your phone to buy items like CDs, DVDs, books, electronics, accessories and much more.”

The latter new feature seems more interesting to me. It’s an ideal solution for when you’re out around town, see something you like and want to buy it in a instant. Suppose if the idea does pick up among highstreet shops, it’s would be better than carrying around credit cards in the old sky rocket. Although, I’ve been known to have friends who lose their mobile once a month on average. Don’t think they’d be too keen on the concept.

Via, Russell Beattie
Picture via Russell Beattie

Sidenote: I got in touch with Technorati regarding my blog not updating on T/rati’s site again. Within a matter of days I received a response and an apology from a customer support specialist. Wow! They seem to really on the ball now. Much quicker than previous problems with the same issue. Kudos to Technorati.

Technorati tags:
paypal, mobile, paypal+mobile

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