Paypal’s new peer-to-peer payment service Paypal.me makes it even easier to send people money with just a link
With just a tap of your phone – or even your watch – it’s never been easier to pay people back. Now Paypal wants to make it even easier, with a personalised URL.
This could be a good thing in the age of an ever-growing “sharing economy”. Asking friends for money back after footing a restaurant bill or paying for a cab can feel awkward – and while the sum may not seem such a big deal at the time, it all adds up.
Collectively we owe billions of pounds, according to Paypal’s data, which shows adults in the US, Canada, Australia and Germany are $51bn (£33bn) out of pocket at any time. Ouch.
With new peer-to-peer payments system Paypal.me, the e-commerce company lets people use a personalised URL to collect or send money:
Imagine how much time you waste chasing down friends, family and customers to pay you back. Today, we’re announcing for the first time you can name your money with PayPal.Me: your personal link to getting paid back.
The URL is linked to your Paypal account: all you have to do is share your personalised link – whether sending it to someone directly through text, or putting it on your social media profile. Anyone who wants to send you money just enters the amount they owe you and clicks “send”. Ka-ching.
Paypal suggests the service could be especially useful for group collections.
This is the latest P2P service to be launched in a booming payments sector, after Square Cash released an app which allows you to make transfers through your Apple Watch.