PayPal outlines ‘new money’ plans

Firm unveils new partnerships, apps as it moves to make money more accessible

Calling someone "new money" doesn't have to be a thinly veiled insult. Paypal, for example, is embracing the term enthusiastically.

It's part of a new campaign the payments company is running to showcase how people manage their money in new and innovative ways. At the opening of Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the company had more to share: a new partnership with Vodafone, agreements with telecoms providers in Mexico and Brazil, and a new app that enables contactless payments for the service.

The Vodafone deal will see the telecoms operator roll out a mobile wallet that will enable contactless payments on Android smartphones compatible with the technology. Coming first to Spain, it is expected to roll out to other European countries throughout the year.

Telcel and Claro, telecom providers in Mexico and Brazil, are also working on digital wallets with Paypal.

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“Our vision is to help democratise financial services and make moving money more accessible for people around the world,” said Anuj Nayar, Senior Director of Global Initiatives with PayPal. Paypal said it would expand its recent acquisition Xoom in Africa, and announced an upcoming version of its mobile app would support NFC to facilitate payments with mobile phones. The updated functions will come to the US and Australia first.

Paypal also plans to roll out One Touch, which eliminates the need to retype payment information and passwords for online and mobile checkouts, to an additional 120 markets.

Ciara O'Brien

Ciara O'Brien

Ciara O'Brien is an Irish Times business and technology journalist