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PayPal launches UK-only InStore mobile payments app

PayPal launches UK-only InStore mobile payments app

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PayPal has introduced a new app for the UK called PayPal inStore, which enables users to make payments using their smartphone and PayPal account.

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Online payment giant PayPal is launching a UK-only app for Android and iOS called PayPal InStore, which enables users to make payments using their smartphone and PayPal account. Rather than using NFC, the app generates a unique barcode for each account and relies on a four-digit PIN for security.

Mobile payments have yet to make their mark in the UK, and perhaps with that in mind, PayPal has found an unlikely partner with the middle-of-the-road Aurora fashion group to help launch the scheme. Aurora will be taking mobile payments in its Coast, Oasis, Karen Millen, and Warehouse stores nationwide starting tomorrow. PayPal has recently partnered with a number of companies across the world as it attempts to make it big in the mobile payment space.

So why no NFC? Cameron McLean, Managing Director of PayPal UK, says that "mobile payments don't need NFC technology to succeed," adding that the service "works with the phones most of our customers already own," and "our retail partner doesn't have to install new systems to take in-store mobile payments." PayPal has carried out research among major UK retailers that suggests you won't need a wallet on the British high street in 2016. According to McLean, "a phone will be enough."