PayPal Bumps iPhone Payments to New Level
Next time you’re splitting the cost of a dinner with friends, PayPal wants you to pay with a fist bump–or, more precisely, an iPhone bump.
A new version of the online payments service’s iPhone app debuted on Monday, with a feature that allows you to pass money from one person to the next by bumping–or simultaneously shaking–two phones. (You need not worry about all your money accidentally pouring out of the phone in your pocket; both sides have to set up and confirm the transfer in the software before it goes through.)
For PayPal, the new app is part of a long-term effort to bring its online payments–which started out as a way to pay on eBay (EBAY)–into the mobile world. PayPal first launched mobile payments through SMS and a voice response system in 2006, and launched an initial version of its iPhone app in 2008, followed since by apps for Android and Blackberry.
