PayPal Here is updating its card reader to support EMV and contactless transactions as well as Microsoft Surface and other Windows devices.
PayPal made several big announcements at this week’s National Retail Federation conference in New York. The payments company has made its PayPal Here SDK compatible with with Microsoft Surface Pro 3, and other devices running Windows 8.1, and its mobile app will soon follow.
The PayPal Here SDK, which was previously announced as a pilot for iOS and Android devices, will launch publicly this month with support for Windows. Developers will then be able to integrate Here’s payment functionality into their own custom apps. Both the SDK and the PayPal Here apps will work with Windows 8.1 devices, including the Surface Pro 3 tablet, TechCrunch reported. PayPal Here will also be compatible with the Lumia 830 and 635 smartphones.
The PayPal Here card reader, a dongle allowing merchants to accept credit and debit card payments though their mobile device, is being updated to accept EMV and contactless transactions. Support for EMV transactions will be implemented ahead of the October 2015 deadline requiring US card issuers to move from magnetic strip cards to chip-and-pin.
PayPal launched an EMV-compliant device for European merchants in 2013, a handheld device which, like the US’s dongle device, connects to the PayPal Here app. The company said that this technology will be made available to US customers in 2015, and will accept other payments methods beyond EMV.
PayPal Here seems to be readying itself for a big 2015, allowing for multiple payments methods including mobile wallets. The company’s pricing may also undercut competitor Square – new PayPal here users receive a reader for free, and the second, even an upgrade to from the old system, only costs $15. If PayPal sticks with this pricing model after the new Here release, Square, at £29, may no longer be “the most affordable chip card reader on the market.”
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