PayPal, Home Depot Experiment Brings In-Store Payments To Retailer

(Reuters) - eBay Inc's PayPal unit, which allows consumers to pay for goods online, is running a trial of in-store payments with Home Depot, one of the largest retailers in the U.S., a spokesman said on Friday.

A pilot program for PayPal's new point-of-sale, or POS, technologies is being run in five Home Depot stores and involves a "small number" of PayPal employees, the PayPal spokesman Anuj Nayar added.

(Reporting by Alistair Barr; editing by Carol Bishopric)

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Comments

[Jay Gould]

06:03 PM on 02/15/2012

PayPal's plan of POS attack is to entice merchants with below-cost credit and debit card processing, which is an offer no retailer will refuse. The company will subsidize its losses from the card transactions with the very high-margin profits it enjoys when its users fund the sales amount from their bank accounts.

On the other hand, whether the consumers will be won over is another question altogether. If it is to stand a chance, PayPal will need to make the checkout process as uneventful as possible. As it is, the customer is asked to enter his or her cell phone number, in addition to a PIN, before the transaction can be completed. That's unnecessary and excessive. I would never give my cell phone number to a merchant (or PayPal) to protect myself against spam, whatever assurances to the contrary they may give me. And I'm far from alone.

Still, given the amazing deal that retailers get out of it, I like PayPal's chances. http://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/paypal-is-coming-to-your-grocery-store

[WindySailor]

09:37 AM on 01/09/2012

PayPal? No way.

[radiojunkie]

08:32 AM on 01/09/2012

I've bought and sold on ebay for more than a decade. Never had a PayPal problem.

[Layman23]

01:45 AM on 01/09/2012

Hope they don't charge outrageous fees like they do on E-bay.

[radiojunkie]

08:25 AM on 01/09/2012

No fees to the buyer, only to the seller.

[grapost]

04:36 PM on 01/08/2012

PayPal is just as bad as the Banks it piggybacks it's transactions on. Now instead of being gouged twice online, consumers will be gouged twice offline as well.

[drumz]

12:56 PM on 01/08/2012

EFF PAYPAL

[drumz]

12:55 PM on 01/08/2012

Oh, it only uses a small number of employees, PERFECT. We don't need no stinking workers!

[franz ferninand]

11:11 AM on 01/08/2012

yea you're right. HD probably said to themselves "let's partner with Paypal. The benefit to us will be higher prices and difficult returns. We'll continue to be #1." Stay off the computer idiot. And don't comment on business practices. You clearly don't own one and have no idea what your taking about.

[authorized-user]

09:33 AM on 01/08/2012

This will screw up a lot of returns and credits for HD customers as well as drive prices higher. Who is to say where your personal info goes once paypal gets their hands on it? Do you like spam????

MY HD card works just fine and I don't get any drama for the rare product issues that go back to the store.

[Andy49]

10:29 PM on 01/07/2012

After the last story I read about how this company and how they have screwed the small business person I will use them to transfer money to my family when it is necessary but beyond that I will avoid them like the plague. My credit union card is good enough for me and I refuse to give anyone access to my money except the bank I work with.

[PhilipCohen]

04:16 PM on 01/07/2012

And the other point of this bit of PR nonsense is, what does it say about the intellectual capacity of those in charge at Home Depot, that they would take on this "not a payments processor", PreyPal?

[PhilipCohen]

04:13 PM on 01/07/2012

And, as for the future of the clunky PreyPal’s projected move into EFTPOS at B&M. Pure science fiction—“Beam me up Scotty”. Whoops, he's already abandoned ship ...

[William Brock]

11:01 AM on 01/07/2012

I just leave a site that interrupts me with pop-up ads, floaters, etc. and go elsewhere for my needs. I hate them and the advertisers that invade my "experience", and make a point not to patronize the advertiser or the site.

[radiojunkie]

08:30 AM on 01/09/2012

Try Firefox browser and Ad Block Plus extension.

[traveler291]

10:18 AM on 01/07/2012

note to retailers: add paypal and i'll delete shopping with you.

[frank day]

10:09 AM on 01/07/2012

PayPal SUKS !!!!!!!!!