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PayPal Launches Six New Features Including Fastlane Checkout, AI Suggestions
PayPal has announced the launch of six new features that aim to “revolutionise” the e-commerce experience for consumers and merchants in the US.
Fastlane is a new feature that allows PayPal users to sign up with a new merchant in as close to one click as possible.
When using Fastlane, a consumer who visits a new merchant for the first time can automatically upload all of their ID, payment and shipping information straight from their PayPal account.
Similarly, for recognised merchants, PayPal has added a one-click checkout process that allows users to log in and send a payment using their face or fingerprint.
Next, PayPal Smart Receipts is a new feature that uses AI to predict what a consumer who has just checked out may purchase from that same merchant in future.
Recommendations with links to buy will then populate the receipt, and merchants will also be able to add personalised rewards and cash back offers.
A similar feature, known as CashPass, has been added to the PayPal app. This allows any merchant to show offers to any consumer, and PayPal selects relevant offers based on shopping behaviour.
Switzerland’s TWINT App Doubled Its Transactions Made In Store In 2023
TWINT has strengthened its dominance of Switzerland’s digital wallet market after almost doubling the number of in-store transactions it processed in 2023 compared to 2022.
In a statement, the wallet provider said that the strong growth was due mainly to payments made at supermarket cash registers, which made up the “vast majority” of in-store transactions.
In total, TWINT processed more than 590m transactions in 2023, about 72 percent of which were commercial payments.
“The strong growth in the number of transactions made in traditional retail stores shows that TWINT has become part and parcel of the everyday lives of Swiss residents,” said Markus Kilb, CEO of TWINT.
TWINT, which is jointly owned by a consortium of banks, including Credit Suisse and UBS, is the largest payment app in Switzerland, with more than 5m active users.
Tink, Token.io Confirmed As Latest Members Of Europe’s SPAA Scheme
Tink and Token.io have joined the SEPA Payment Account Access (SPAA) scheme, which is managed by the European Payments Council (EPC).
Version 1.1 of the SPAA scheme launched in November 2023 to much fanfare in the EU's payments industry.
The SPAA scheme establishes the rules, practices and standards that govern the exchange of payment accounts-related data and the initiation of payment transactions through "value-added" API-based services.
These services are provided by account-servicing payment service providers (ASPSPs) to third-party providers (TPPs), such as payment initiation service providers (PISPs) or account information service providers (AISPs).
It is thought that the scheme will complement EU legislation such as the Payment Services Directive (PSD) and the Instant Payments Regulation.
TrueLayer became the first company to officially join the scheme on January 15.
Alipay+ Makes Inroads In Pakistan Through NayaPay Partnership
Alipay+, the cross-border payments and marketing platform from Ant Financial, has partnered with Pakistan’s NayaPay digital wallet.
The partnership will lead to the deployment of QR codes that are compatible with both RAAST, Pakistan’s instant payments system, and with Alipay+ partners, including digital wallets and bank apps.
In total, more than 25 Alipay+ payment partners can connect 1m NayaPay users to more than 1.5bn consumer accounts worldwide.
“This strategic alliance is specifically designed to streamline digital payments, tackling prevalent issues such as limited interoperability and elevated transaction costs,” said NayaPay.
In other Ant Group news, the Chinese fintech is close to acquiring Dutch payments firm MultiSafePay in a $200m deal, according to a report from Retuers.
