PayPal introduced a new digital wallet today at SXSW. “This is the future of what PayPal is going to be looking like over the coming months,” PayPal VP, Global Product & Experience, Sam Shrauger declares.
He actually discussed the offering on the PayPal blog the other day. In that post, he ran down the following lis of what the new digital wallet will make possible:
Separating the purchase from the payment: Buy something in a store, take it home and decide later how you want to pay for it. PayPal is the only wallet that will offer a 5-7 day grace period for consumers to change their minds.
Switch from one funding source to another
Decide to pay over time in installments
Apply different sources of value (gift cards, airline miles, loyalty points, etc.)
Personal Lists: Search for items, compare prices and create lists of things you want to buy for a variety of situations.
Found Money: Your wallet will find deals and coupons for items on your personal lists once you’re in the store. Forgot about that coupon you were saving? The PayPal wallet won’t.
Spending Rules. Create specific “set asides” like travel funds, set rules by purchase amount, tie specific payment instruments to specific merchants – all in your wallet, without setting up any new bank accounts or opening any new credit cards.
Here’s about 20 minutes worth of demo of the new digital wallet from Shrauger:
PayPal will begin rolling out the new features in late May.
While we’ve yet to see it, PayPal is rumored to be launching a mobile payments dongle to compete with Square. Square has enjoyed unprecedented success in a short time of existence. Such an offering from PayPal, which is more of a household name, could do very well.
In other PayPal news this week, vice president of customer advocacy and operational excellence Eric Salvatierra was killed when he was struck by a commuter train in Menlo Park.