PayPal recently acquired a company that developed an easy way for brick-and-mortar shops to accept mobile payments by using a USB device they plug into their registers.
PayPal announced the acquisition of Fig Card, a Boston-based company, late last week on its blog, noting that "PayPal is extremely focused on being at the center of this new retail landscape and driving innovation in mobile payments."
Customers who have the Fig Card app loaded onto their mobile devices can use their PayPal accounts to shop in stores where the Fig Card device is installed.
This is not the first time PayPal has tried to make a push into brick-and-mortar shops. Last year, the payment processor announced it was developing technology that would allow shoppers to synch their PayPal accounts with their mobile devices so they could use them to make purchases in stores.
Terms of the Fig Card acquisition were not disclosed. Fig Card's founders, Max Metral and Hasty Granbery will join PayPal's mobile team, according to news reports.
"There's a lot of exciting innovation happening within the walls of eBay and PayPal—and even more so with the tens of thousands of developers who use our platform around the world," notes Peter Chu, senior director of PayPal Mobile, on PayPal's blog. "It's inspiring to come to work every day and interact with some of the best minds in technology and payments. I couldn't be more excited to welcome two more to the PayPal team."
Auctiva staff writers constantly monitor trends and best practices of those selling on eBay and elsewhere online. They attend relevant training seminars and trade shows and regularly discuss the market with PowerSellers and other market experts.
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