PayPal partners with Vodafone for NFC payments in Europe

Vodafone Wallet users in Europe will soon be able to make NFC mobile payments at stores, restaurants and other retail locations using their PayPal accounts. The agreement between the online payments provider and Vodafone marks the first time PayPal users will be able to make NFC payments at the point of sale for goods and services.

PayPal“The agreement will enable millions of PayPal customers in Europe to opt to use the Vodafone Wallet to pay for goods and services at the point of sale using their phones with a Vodafone NFC SIM, currently supported by more than 70 Android smartphone models,” PayPal says. “PayPal customers in several European countries will be able to choose to add their accounts to the Vodafone Wallet during 2016.

“Vodafone customers who do not have a PayPal account will be able to sign up for one from within the Vodafone Wallet app. Users will pay quickly by tapping their phones against a contactless point of sale terminal. The service will be available at millions of retail outlets around the world displaying the contactless payment symbol.”

“Customers will be able to see details of their transactions in the Vodafone Wallet app and through PayPal’s mobile app and website,” the company adds. “Vodafone Wallet users can register and pay contactlessly using Visa and MasterCard payment cards, or by using a prepaid card loaded with cash in advance.”

PayPal and Vodafone have developed the wallet solution in partnership with Raphaels Bank and technology provider Carta Worldwide.

Comprehensive solution

“We are excited to allow millions of PayPal customers to make payments at the physical point of sale using their Vodafone Wallet, which provides highly secure mobile payments,” says Stefano Parisse, group director of consumer services at Vodafone.

“Vodafone customers will now enjoy the ability to use PayPal to fund payments made using the Vodafone Wallet, which is the industry’s most comprehensive solution for offline and online payments.”

“Money is going digital and the smartphone is at the centre of this transformation,” adds Rupert Keeley, CEO of PayPal Europe. “Our partnership with Vodafone will enable millions of our customers in Europe to make contactless payments for the first time in their favourite high street stores using their mobile phones.”

Vodafone Wallet launched in November 2013 and is currently available in Germany, Spain, the UK, Italy and the Netherlands. It was announced in March 2015 that customers in five major European markets would be able to use their Visa cards to make NFC mobile payments with a SIM-based service that makes use of tokenization. Support for MasterCard was added in November 2015.

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