- App generates barcode which is scanned by shop
- No financial information stored in phone
- Protected by PIN number
- 'You won't need a wallet by 2016' says PayPal
By Larisa Brown
|
All that fun buying a new frock can often be ruined by the torturous wait at a till to pay for it.
But thanks to a new mobile phone app, you may never have to queue again. In fact, you may even be able to pay while you’re trying on the clothes in the fitting room.
The ‘InStore’ app from online payment firm PayPal will allow shoppers to purchase goods on the shop floor in less than 30 seconds.
PayPal inStore works by generating a barcode on screen, which the shop then scans to take money from the customer's account
The app is locked by a PIN, and no financial details are stored in the phone itself
Shop assistants carry portable scanners which are used to read the barcodes on customers’ goods wherever they are in store.
Shoppers then use their PayPal app to enter a passcode, which produces a unique barcode on the screen of the phone.
This second barcode is then scanned by a shop assistant, which completes the sale while avoiding the need to visit a conventional cash till.
Receipts are automatically sent to a shopper’s email. It has been launched at 230 branches of fashion stores Oasis, Warehouse, Coast and Karen Millen today with more stores expected to accept the payments later this year.
The app can also be used to issue refunds, with the barcodes stored in the phone, and able to be brought back to the store for a refund
No personal or financial information is stored on the phone - and the app is locked with a PIN code, so if a phone is stolen, it's useless.
The app can also be used to issue refunds, with the barcodes stored in the phone, and able to be brought back to the store for a refund.
To begin with the app will only work in fashion chains Coast, Oasis and Warehouse as well as Karen Millen.
The service launches nationally on 31st May and will be available in 230 stores.
Cameron McLean, managing director of PayPal UK, said: ‘Today marks the start of a quiet revolution in the way we shop on the high street.
'We’ve created a simple, secure way to use a mobile phone to pay in your favourite stores.’
Millions have already been invested in developing ‘contactless’ technology, which lets us buy goods without inserting a card into a machine.
Barclaycard and Orange launched Quick Tap last year â€" where shoppers can spend up to £15 by waving their phone over an electronic pad. However, customers using this still need to go to a till.
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You will still have to queue to get the security tag removed.
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Good idea
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Pay Pal? No chance! I'd rather stand in a queue than spend hours on the phone waiting for their customer service after a botched transaction (whoever's fault it is!)
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The problem is that PayPal is not a bank and operates from Luxembourg. FSA has no authority over them whatsoever. - Lu, Manchester, 30/5/2012 22:42 But The Financial Ombudsman HAS! And they are very good at slapping paypal into place if needs be. Dont be scared to contact them.- john, newtownabbey, 31/5/2012 01:15====LU is patially right. Millions have had major problems with PPs autocratic methods and are registered offshore. But, they realised the limitations of their system. Another arrogant aggressive company like Microsoft and Google. The big banks are half to blame. They have been very slow to move on. All their brainboxes realise they can mak a fortune trading so why work on new technology. Engineering should be better paid.
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If there is no need to queue to pay, will we be hearing the scanners at the exit bleeping? Surely the security tag will have to be removed from the clothing.
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666 don't take the mark!
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Don't we get a carrier bag now?!
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What happens when the battery is flat in your phone? Ooopps...didn't think of that one did we?
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At the moment, the market for this kind of thing is completely fractured, there's a myriad of different applications, and companies involved and it as demonstrated on television earlier this week, it just doesn't work. The apps are too complicated to set-up and get working, it's a night mare. It's only going to work if a) standards are defined and agreed between companies, vendors etc. b) the number of companies is reduced dramatically. So PayPal have a great opportunity to get into this market and make it work. Whilst I'm against a company such as PayPal having such market dominance, the current situation is this technology does not work.
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An assistant is needed. So still a queue!
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