PayPal.Me Links Users to New P2P Approach (Sept. 1, 2015)
PayPal more or less invented P2P payments with its core service enabling individuals to pay one another via email through various funding sources. Today the company introduced PayPal.Me, a URL-based approach to requesting funds from friends and family that aims to be handier than previous methods of requesting funds online or within the PayPal app. The new approach—which is available internationally—also gives PayPal a fresh twist to compete with the expanding array of snazzy-looking P2P services from Facebook, Google, Square and PayPal’s own Venmo.
PayPal.Me enables users to create a permanent, personalized link they may send to peers via email or text—or share in social media—when requesting funds. To send funds, users must have a PayPal account. They click on the link, enter the amount they want to pay, click on “Next,” sign in with PayPal and approve the payment. The service is free in the U.S. for funds sent using a PayPal balance or between bank accounts, but fees kick in for funds transfers using debit or credit cards, or for funds sent outside the U.S. to 17 other countries where PayPal.Me is available (see fees below).
The global P2P market could be as large as $51 billion, according to a study PayPal released today of 4,000 consumers in the U.S., Canada, Germany and Australia. More than a third of respondents prefer a digital wallet to a real one, the study suggests.
Related stories:
- PayPal Puts Heat on Intl. Remittances with $890 Million Xoom Acquisition
- Schulman: PayPal’s Open Platform is Key to Success in Digitization of Money
- P2P Options Expand as Competitors Place Bets on the Future
