PayPal has launched a new payment service called PayPal.Me where PayPal customers will be able to set up their own user profiles which are associated with a personalized URL (e.g. paypal.me/username), which can then be shared with others via text, over email, on instant messenger, via social media, or anywhere else, as a way to request money.
The link itself is easy to remember, as users will claim their own usernames on the service. After setting up your username, you can also customize your profile theme and specify whether you’re using the link for payments between friends and family, or for more professional purposes.
Afterwards, to get paid, you just send your link to a friend who clicks it, logs in with their own PayPal information, then reviews and completes the payment on one screen, optionally adding a personal note, if they choose.
To make it even easier on those paying, you can also append a number to the end of a personal link to pre-fill in the correct amount. For instance, paypal.me/username/20 would ask for £20.00.
The company says the PayPal.Me service is launching in 18 markets, including the U.S., Germany, U.K., Australia, Canada, Russia, Turkey, France, Italy, Spain, Poland, Sweden, Belgium, Norway, Denmark, Netherlands, Switzerland, and Austria.
PayPal.Me competes with a handful of peer-to-peer payment apps, including Square Cash, as well as payment options offered by Facebook (in Messenger), Google (in Gmail and Google Wallet) and Snapchat (in the app).
Users can sign up for their own username at PayPal.Me now.
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