PayPal Archives - Page 38 of 40

Quotes: Mercantile Bank on Using PayPal for P2P Payments

By Jim Bruene Posted on November 11, 2009
Categories: Alt Payments, Mercantile Bank of MI, Mobile Banking, Mobile Payments, PayPal

The biggest surprise of the year in the world of alt-payments is PayPal’s newfound reach into banking circles as evidenced by their agreements with S1, FIS, and FirstData announced at last week’s Retail Delivery conference.

But a huge question remains: Will banks play ball with PayPal or will they provide the same functions via home-grown solutions or non-PayPal alternatives such as CashEdge, Fiserv, or Visa/MasterCard?

I don’t think anyone has that answer yet. There are simply too many variables. But if you believe there’s no way a bank would use a “powered by PayPal” solution, read this quote by Mercantile Bank of Michigan’s CIO, who plans on launching the S1/PayPal person-to-person mobile service next year (note 1):

“(PayPal) is a network, it doesn’t scare me at all. They’re never going to steal significant deposits out of our bank and keep [them] in PayPal accounts. Visa and MasterCard probably look at PayPal as the enemy, and they probably should, but that’s their problem, not mine.”
— John Schulte, CIO Mercantile Bank of Michigan in a
Nov. 10 article from Digital Transactions

Note:
1. You might remember Mercantile Bank from our May post lauding its fee-based consumer positive-pay service.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

SunTrust Partners with Moneta to Test the Alt-Payment Waters

By Jim Bruene Posted on November 3, 2009
Categories: Alt Payments, BAI Retail Delivery, PayPal, SunTrust

I’ve been waiting 10 years to write this story. A major U.S. bank has finally dared enter the space PayPal has all-but-owned since the first part of this decade (see note 1, 2): secure, non-card-based payments at the point-of-sale, which do not require handing over private info to the merchant.

Yes, Bank One, Citibank and Wells Fargo all failed at person-to-person payments in 2000/2001, but this is much different. Those were payment services between individuals, not a point-of-sale option like PayPal, Google Checkout, and most recently, Amazon.com.

SunTrust’s partner Moneta is an Atlanta-based startup that debuted its alt-payment system at FinovateStartup earlier this year (video here). The joint effort was announced at BAI Retail Delivery in Boston earlier today (press release).

The program is already being tested on a large group of SunTrust online banking customers who recently received an email offering a $10 cash-back incentive to make a purchase of $50 or more from one of the handful of merchants currently accepting Moneta-powered ACH payments. The biggest merchant is Delta.

Moneta’s appeal to merchants is relatively straightforward: Incremental sales from customers unwilling or unable to pay via credit card online AND reduction in interchange costs by moving card-based transactions to Moneta transactions, with much lower interchange.

For banks, the business case is not as obvious. The hope is that Moneta-issuing banks share of interchange revenue will more than offset what the bank might lose in card-based interchange. While that may turn out to be the case, the more compelling benefit for banks is the brand and relationship value of offering a new payment choice with more perceived security and privacy advantages. There are also intriguing possibilities to add other revenue-producing value to those transactions.

Last year in my notes from the BAI conference, I named Moneta as the “most audacious business plan.” Right now, it’s too early to say whether Moneta can become a legit competitor to PayPal. But with SunTrust on its side, that audacious plan is MUCH closer to realization.
Notes:
1. For the historical perspective, see our first report on person-to-person payments (published, Nov. 1999).
2. In somewhat-related news: A year after PayPal CEO Scott Thompson made a keynote appeal to bankers at last year’s Retail Delivery, FIS and PayPal announced a partnership today (press release) as did S1 (press release) that could bring PayPal-powered peer-to-peer payments to hundreds of financial institutions.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Off-topic: Seth Godin is a Marketing Genius and Only Accepts PayPal

By Jim Bruene Posted on November 3, 2009
Categories: Advertising & Promotion, Email Samples, PayPal

Seth Godin is a true marketing guru. And unlike some authors, he also practices what he preaches.

Case in point: At 10:49 AM Eastern today, he announced via post on his blog that he was selling a special boxed set of five of his books (here):

Limit one per customer
800 total sets, with no more to be printed ever
Price = $64 + $10 shipping
Payment via PayPal only.

By 1 PM, when I ordered, only 176 remained. By the time I returned from this afternoon’s BAI Retail Delivery program, they were all gone (note 1).

And of course, I received a clever thank-you note from Mr. Godin a few hours later (see below).

Relevance to Netbankers: This doesn’t really have anything to do with financial services other than being one more bit of evidence of PayPal’s ubiquity online. This is just a great example of how to create retail excitement with a combination of clear value, simple check-out process, a nice webpage (see screenshot below), and a blog entry. It’s more challenging to do it in financial services, but it is possible.

Seth Godin’s webpage sold a limited-edition box set for a few hours (link, 3 Nov. 2009)

Thank-you email (three hours after purchase)
Apparently, part one in a series

Note: If you must have it, there’s one up for auction on eBay. Starting price $1.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

PayPal Launches Drop-Dead Simple Teen Prepaid Card & PayPal Account

By Jim Bruene Posted on August 12, 2009
Categories: Account opening, Credit/Debit Cards, PayPal, Prepaid/gift cards, Student Banking, Youth market

Sometimes, banks forget the importance of simplicity, especially when it comes to less-than-crucial, ancillary services such as a prepaid teen account. Sure, I’d love to have a reloadable card that my son could stow in his backpack for emergencies. But I’m not going to spend a half-hour looking for one, applying for a new account, and then trying remember where and how to access it (see note 1).

But if the process was painless and integrated with my online banking, I’d buy a half-dozen prepaid cards, one for each child, one to toss in the glove box of each car, and another for my briefcase (note 2).

It looks like PayPal is the first to step up to this challenge with its new student account (company blog post) which has been in beta testing since last November (beta site; note 3). The account is free of charge (note 4), and signup takes just 51 seconds.

Signup & funding
Current PayPal customers can sign up their kids for an account in under a minute. That includes clicking on the <paypal.com/StudentAccounts> URL, completing the six-field app (see first screenshot), all the way to the approval screen confirmation (screenshot #2). And, half that time was simply logging in to my PayPal account. If I’d already been logged in, the total time to complete the application, process it, and receive approval would be just 23 seconds! That’s the fastest financial services application I’ve ever completed by a factor of 10 (note 5).

The account, which shows up as a link at the top of the parent’s PayPal account (screenshot #3) includes parental controls for all transaction types and comes with both an online account and a PayPal prepaid MasterCard debit card. Both will come in handy for today’s teens, who cannot easily shop online without credit or debit cards of their own.

Transferring funds to the account takes mere seconds, and parents can choose from one-time loads or periodic transfers so the card can be used to accumulate an allowance (screenshot #4). Transfers show up in real time, with green color-coding, after hitting enter (screenshot #5).

Overall grade: I give it an A+ for ease of use and an A+ for value, a winning combination. Nice work.

1. PayPal teen card application for current PayPal customers (12 Aug 2009)

2. Congratulations screen

3. Student account, and prepaid balance, shows up on the parent’s main account overview page

4. Funds transfer screen

5. The funds transfer is immediately displayed within the student account area

Notes:
1. The final item is why the Visa Buxx card never worked for me. I bought one but could never remember how to access it or add more money.
2. Verient is doing some very cool things to help in this regard; we’ll profile them here soon.
3. Hat tip to Payments News for the link.
4. ING Direct’s system for creating a new savings sub-account is similar speedwise, but it’s not technically a new account.
5. The only major fees, besides PayPal merchant fees, are the $1 ATM withdrawal fee and a 2.5% foreign currency fee.
6. For more info on online account opening, refer to the latest issue of Online Banking Report: Improving Online Account Opening ROI.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

PayPal markets its credit card to users at logout

By Jim Bruene Posted on May 21, 2009
Categories: Advertising & Promotion, Credit/Debit Cards, PayPal

For many years PayPal has deposited users on its shopping portal when they log out of their PayPal account. This afternoon I saw something different at logout for the first time in recent memory, a pitch for the PayPal Plus MasterCard (screenshot below).

Although the company has marketed this card to me dozens of times immediately after logging in, it’s the first time I remember seeing it after logging out. The hook is the card’s new personalized photo option.

But a funny thing happened when I clicked on the Get Started button: I was dropped on to PayPal’s homepage where an error message explained:

You must log in before you can access this page.

A very odd requirement for an offer made after logging out. I followed the instructions and logged in, but there was no mention of the credit card. I just ended up at the regular account management page.

I guess it was PayPal’s turn for a programming glitch (see yesterday’s post on Rudder). Luckily, this problem doesn’t impact anything but PayPal’s online marketing results (see note 1). When I logged out this time, I was shown the usual PayPal shopping portal (see third screenshot).

PayPal pitched its PayPal Plus MasterCard at logout
(21 May 2009, 3:30 PM Pacific)

Error message after clicking “Get Started” on offer page
(21 May 2009)

PayPal logout offer a few minutes later (21 May 2009)

Note:
1. For more info, see our most recent Online Banking Report: Selling Behind the Password

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

eBay Acquires Bill Me Later for Almost $1 Billion

By Jim Bruene Posted on October 6, 2008
Categories: Ebay, Epayments, PayPal

I won’t belabor the irony that the nearly $1 billion ($945 million) paid by eBay for Bill Me Later values the alternative payment and credit provider at more than Washington Mutual Bank and nearly half as much as Wachovia, at least before Wells Fargo entered the bidding.

The underlying credit product is relatively simple, a 19.99% credit account underwritten by Utah-based industrial bank CIT (terms and conditions here, see also note 1). But the distribution system, providing quick-and-easy delayed payment at the point-of-sale at 1000 online merchants, is what created the billion-dollar valuation. To use Bill Me Later at checkout, consumers simply provide their birthdate, last four digits of their social security number, and their billing address (see Amazon.com screenshot below).

According to today’s investors presentation the company will do more than $1 billion in transaction volume in 2008 and serves 4 million customers (see note 2).

I was initially surprised at the price ($945 million), but given that eBay is projecting $150 million in revenues and $50 million in profits, it makes some sense, especially if CIT is taking most/all of the credit risk. Hoped-for synergies with PayPal, which already operates a similar program, is the stated upside for the deal.

Ebay says Bill Me Later earns 4.1% on each payment transaction, which amounts to $10 per $250 purchase (note 3).

Bill Me Later’s simple signup demonstrated at Amazon’s checkout
(5 Oct 2008)

Notes:
1. CIT is not without its own problems with a market cap that has dropped more than 80% from a year ago. The company is now valued at $2 billion, just double the purchase price of BillMeLater.

2. Some historical usage numbers: An undated entry on the CIT website says that BillMeLater has served 2.5 million consumers. In a Dec. 2006 press release announcing $640 million debt-financing from Citigroup, Bill Me Later said it had served 2 million consumers.

3. Here are the revenue and cost numbers taken from today’s investor’s presentation (expressed as percent of transaction amount):

Income
Transaction fee from merchant = 2.4%
Customer interest = 6.5% (note APR is 19.99%)
Customer fees = 3.6% (note late fees are generally $29 or $39 depending on balance)
Total revenue = 12.5%

Expense
Acquisition and servicing = 2.9%
Net credit/fraud losses = 3.4%
Cost of funds = 2.1%
Total cost = 8.4%

Net profit = 4.1% of transaction amount

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Login, Logoff Marketing Messages from Bank of America, PayPal, US Bank, WaMu and Wells Fargo

By Jim Bruene Posted on August 1, 2008
Categories: Advertising & Promotion, Bank of America, PayPal, US Bank, Washington Mutual, Wells Fargo

After returning from some R&R in Iowa and Kansas, I logged into my banking and credit card accounts to see what I'd forgotten to attend to before leaving town. Luckily, everything seemed in order this time.

Always on the lookout for online marketing examples, I thought it would be interesting to compare and contrast the marketing messages presented to users as they logged in and logged out of five major banking sites.

Bank of America (business and personal credit cards): BofA typically has a marketing message at login and logoff.
Login The bank's brokerage division is pitching free Morningstar mutual fund research. I haven't seen this one before, and it seems a bit wordy, so it may be the first time for this offer (see screenshot #1 below)
Logout A pitch for a cash-back business credit card. It's a good offer, but perplexing, given that I already have a business and personal card with BofA. Not sure why they want me to have three (screenshot #2).
PayPal (verified account): PayPal has used log-in splash-screens almost since it began in 1999 with a mix of marketing and service messages. But they don't overuse the technique, so it's noticeable when they have a new splash-screen running.
Login No marketing, just direct entry to main screen
Logout No marketing, just a landing at the usual PayPal merchant emporium (screenshot #3)
US Bank (multiple accounts): I don't think I've ever seen a marketing message from US Bank at login or logoff. I believe I've seen a service message at login a few times over the years, but it's extremely rare.
Login No marketing, just dropped on main account page as usual
Logout No marketing, just a brief "you've been logged out" message
WaMu (business checking): I've had the account only a few months, but WaMu has frequently posted marketing messages at login, and they've been relatively creative, as you'd expect.
Login Pitching its WaMu Live concert promotion which provides exclusive access to summer events to WaMu credit and debit card holders (screenshot #4).
Logout No marketing, just a solid recap of security precautions, a good message to leave with online banking users (screenshot #5).
Wells Fargo (credit card): Wells uses marketing messages frequently at both login and logout.
Login Electronic statement (paper turnoff), something I've not done yet (screenshot #6).
Logoff Home equity loans (screenshot #7)

What's Innovative?
There wasn't anything particularly enlightening in these examples. The WaMu Live pitch was the only truly unique message. For the most part, they were typical, well-crafted marketing messages you'd expect from these major players. That's fine now, since most customers don't yet have "banner fatigue" at their online banking site. But going forward, the messages will need to be more targeted and more interesting to get attention and action from jaded online users.

The other issue is frequency. You'll figure this out through testing, but there's a line you don't want to cross where a splash-screen message presented at every login ceases to be effective and is just plain annoying.

Finally, for financial institutions, such as US Bank, still not using this login real estate for sales messages, your customers thank you; however, quick-loading, targeted messaging, used with discretion, should benefit your bottom line.

1. Bank of America login screen for business-credit-card only account (1 Aug 2008)

2. Bank of America logoff screen (1 Aug 2008)

3. PayPal logout (1 Aug 2008)

4. WaMu login screen (31 July 2008)

5. WaMu logout screen (1 August 2008)

6. Wells Fargo login splash screen (1 Aug 2008)

7. Wells Fargo logoff screen (1 Aug 2008)

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Bank of America and PayPal are Only Financial Brands in Apple’s App Store at Launch

By Jim Bruene Posted on July 10, 2008
Categories: Apple, Bank of America, iPhone, PayPal

Bank of America once again proved its mobile mettle as the only financial institution to have a native app available at the launch of Apple’s new App Store (note 1). PayPal also launched an app on Day 1 (see screenshot below). Both are free.

Bank of America iPhone 2.0 App in Apple App Store in iTunes (10 July 2008)

Apple launched the store today within iTunes (see note 1). There are 552 apps at launch according to Pinch Media, Here’s the price breakdown:

Free – 135
$0.99 – 85
$1.99 to $3.99 – 110*
$4.99 – 62
$5.99 to $8.99 – 35*
$9.99 – 82
more than $10 – 40*

The new Finance category in the App Store has 23 entries at launch. Most are small utilities for calculating tips or splitting the dinner check. Only two recognizable brands are available, PayPal (lower left) and Bank of America, which by design or omission, is listed not with its name but as simply “mobile banking.”

Finance listings in Apple App Store in iTune 7.7 (10 July 2008)

PayPal App (10 July 2008)

Notes:

*Interpolated from graph, plus or minus 3%

1. To view the App Store, download iTunes v. 7.7. Some users including myself (Windows bug?) have reported not being able to see it even after updating iTunes. I was able to access through this link published by TechCrunch.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

PayPal Offers $50 Rebate at Northwest Airlines

By Jim Bruene Posted on March 26, 2008
Categories: Email Samples, Epayments, PayPal

In the richest alt-payment bonus we've seen in a long time, PayPal users earn a $50 account credit for purchasing airline tickets at Northwest Air's NWA.com between March 13 and March 27.

The bonus was prominently featured in a promotional email sent to WorldPerks members yesterday (see below). Only one bonus per PayPal account is allowed, and the fare must be at least $250.

PayPal is also accepted at Southwest, AirTran and US Airways.

Airline	Number of PayPal Transactions*
Northwest	9,018
US Airways	3,825
Southwest Air	not listed
AirTran	not listed

*Source: PayPal, 26 March 2007, online shopping center

Email message to Northwest WorldPerks members (25 March 2008)

Landing page (link)

NWA.com fare search
The PayPal logo featured in regular fare search at NWA.com, but there is no mention of the $50 bonus.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Revolution Money Adds Facebook App for P2P Payments, Pays $25 Bonus

By Jim Bruene Posted on January 27, 2008
Categories: Facebook, PayPal, Revolution Money

As Facebook and other social networks move into various ecommerce activities, payments will take a larger role. There are rumors that Facebook may be developing its own payment capabilities, but that seems outside its core business, so I'm skeptical.

There are several payment companies already vying for attention at Facebook:

PayPal launched a Facebook app in July; it allows users to collect funds from friends or to raise money for a cause (previous coverage here).
PayMe is a service that uses the PayPal engine for person-to-person payments (previous coverage here).
Chip-In also uses the PayPal engine to gather group donations for a specific goal (previous coverage here ).

The latest on Facebook is Revolution Money, the credit card alternative backed by AOL founder Steve Case. In December, the company launched a Facebook application to support its person-to-person service, MoneyExchange, which is aimed squarely at PayPal's lucrative franchise (screenshot below). Users that sign up on Facebook receive a $25 bonus (through Feb. 29), an offer that is not available on the main MoneyExchange website.

So far, the Facebook is light with only 16 daily users listed today. But as social network users find out how easy it is to settle their debts with friends through the network, we expect a significant volume of funds flowing through the social networks.

For more information, read our Social Personal Finance report (Online Banking Report #142/143).

Revolution Money's MoneyExchange App on Facebook

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

eBay Pitches Co-branded MasterCard to Bidders

By Jim Bruene Posted on November 20, 2007
Categories: Account opening, Credit/Debit Cards, Ebay, Email Samples, GE Money, PayPal

Given how many times I've had to tell clerks, "no, I really don't care to save $18 on my purchase today" (by adding yet another revolving credit product to my life), the come-on at checkout must work pretty well. Amazon has used this approach at online checkout for years, offering up to $30 in savings if approved for its co-branded credit card.

eBay recently began pitching its eBay MasterCard to bidders in its online auctions. As you can see below, a small "up to $25 back" is presented to users as they consider what bid amount to enter. The card is issued by GE Money and requires a PayPal account. Customers can opt to display their eBay userid on the no-annual-fee card.

Analysis
I also received an email offer last night (7:34 PM Pacific) for the card (see screenshot below). It's an attractive holiday-themed message with the slightly misleading email subject line, "Get 10% off eBay purchases through Dec. 15." I clicked on it wondering why eBay would offer me, a frequent buyer, such a substantial savings. It turns out to only apply to the first $250 spent, for a $25 savings, not so rich compared to other credit card offers I typically receive in the mail. But with the tight integration and 30-second loan application, it should provide a reasonable flow of new applications.

The online application is simple and fast with pre-populated personal info and a 30-second approval promise. All I had to do on the first page (note 1) was decide whether to put my eBay ID on the plastic and enter my birthdate (see screenshot below). However, the process is marred by the upsell of credit insurance disguised under the seemingly innocuous heading (see closeup below):

Yes, enroll me in the Account Security program.

Granted, the cost is clearly disclosed, however, many applicants will check the box thinking they are protecting themselves from fraud, and only later find out they are paying an extra 1.5% per month (that's $900 per year on a $5,000 balance) for an insurance product they probably don't need. With all the problems its had with phishing and fraud, eBay should NOT trick customers into signing on for credit insurance under the guise of "security."

Email solicitation from eBay (19 November 2007)

Landing page for email solicitation of eBay MasterCard (19 November 2007)

Note:

1. I did not proceed past the first page because I could not tell if hitting "continue" at that point would trigger a credit application. They may ask income and employment questions on the next page.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Splash Screens: PayPal Promoting its Debit Card at Login

By Jim Bruene Posted on October 10, 2007
Categories: Epayments, PayPal

Logging in today at PayPal, I was greeted with a full-screen message promoting its debit card (see screenshot below). Note the prominence of the yellow Apply Now button compared to the Go to my account in the lower right. The company has offered a debit card option for more than five years and promotes it from time to time within its site.

Speaking of PayPal, the melodramatic headline on the front page of this month's Bank Technology News grabbed my attention (see upper-left corner of October issue here and inset):

Electronic Payments are a Knifefight.
PayPal's Bringing a Gun.

Evidently, there is at least one headline writer trying to make it logk like a major war is brewing between PayPal and the banking industry. Sure, they are a tough competitor, but they also facilitate a large number of profitable credit card transactions that directly benefit issuers. And I don't see how PayPal is any more of a threat now than they were last year, or the year before.

PayPal is not going away anytime soon. Rather than worrying about the "gun" the company is wielding, banks should be looking for ways to leverage the PayPal payments platform. For example, recent Facebook apps such as Geezeo's iWant (coverage here) or ChipIn (coverage here).

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook