PayPal Here Gets Updated With Windows Support

PayPal has announced during the National Retail Federation held at New York City that PayPal Here, the card reader that lets businesses accept credit and debit card payments by using a dongle on their Android or iOS mobile devices, is getting updated with EMV (EuroPay, MasterCard, Visa) support and zero-contact transactions.

The updated PayPal Here card reader will now be able to accept transactions done through any chip card, magnetic strip, or contactless forms of payment, which includes mobile wallets.

Also, PayPal also announced that its Here software development kit (SDK) and its soon-to-be-released mobile app will be compatible with Microsoft Surface Pro 3, and other mobile devices running on Windows 8.1.

In the United States, card issuers are required to have support for EMV transactions not later than October of this year. This is meant to compel card issuers to shift from less secure magnetic stripe cards to the much safer EMV-based chip-and-pin cards, which are already being used in Europe and other parts of the world.

Back in the start of 2013, PayPal had introduced in Europe a dedicated hardware device that facilitates chip-based transactions. This year, PayPal aims to use the same technology for American consumers. As of now, all new accounts will get the PayPal Here card reader for free, while an additional device will cost customers another $15.

As for the PayPal Here SDK, it will really help developers integrate PayPal Here's payment processing into the apps they are developing. This means that they will be able to create apps that not only work well with PayPal Here, but also feature business-oriented features like inventory management or customer relationship management.

The PayPal Here SKD and mobile app should work with devices that run on Windows 8.1, including the aforementioned Surface Pro 3 tablet and the Lumia 635 and 830 devices. 

Considering the high number of hacking and security incidents that transpired over the last year, many major retailers in the United States are now becoming more open to the idea of supporting EMV cards. These retailers include Sears, Walmart, Target, and CVS Caremark. But reports suggest that of the estimated 12 million point-of-sale (POS) terminals that need to be upgraded with EMV support, only about 7 million of them are going to be ready by the month of October. Still, American consumers will be getting their replacement cards from their issuers soon. This is why PayPal Here is a bit eager to add EMV support soon.