Ina Fried

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PayPal Debuts iPad App, Furthering Rivalry With Square

PayPal on Wednesday served up its first iPad app, a version of its product intended to help small businesses process transactions.

The app, which can accept PayPal and cash in addition to credit cards, is aimed at shops that want something more than an iPhone to swipe cards and don’t already have a dedicated point-of-sale system.

The iPad version of PayPal Here, which takes clear aim at Square Register, is a version of the app already available for the iPhone and Android. However, the iPad app uses the spacious screen real estate to provide additional options not found on its phone app.

It can connect wirelessly to a register or cash drawer and also can scan items via barcode. Plus, it supports multiple users on the same device.

The app also serves as a showcase for some of the eBay unit’s acquisitions, including RedLaser, which powers the bar code scanning, and Card.io, which has technology for capturing credit card info via a photograph.

Even with the exit of VeriFone, mobile payments remains an incredibly crowded space, with everyone from mobile operators to software makers, credit card companies, daily deal providers and startups looking to get in on the act.

Earlier Wednesday, PayPal announced its purchase of Duff Research, a Silicon Valley mobile app design firm.

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— Valleywag editor Sam Biddle