14 DAY TRIAL // Taking advantage of the smartwatch frenzy, Paypal has turned the Starbucks coffee shop located in its corporate campus into testing grounds.
The company is trying out a new payment method which involves beacons and wearable devices, says FastCompany. The beacon is used to detect when a customer enters the store and sends out a notification to the person’s wearable.
After which, the visitor can use their smartwatch to buy coffee or redeem an offer. PayPal is currently only using Samsung devices to test out the new system.
The app is also supposed to allow users to check their PayPal balance history, get payment notifications and save offers from their favorite business.
The advantage of this payment method is that customers don’t need to have a bank card or even a smartphone on them to complete the transaction, so if you stormed out of the house without your wallet or you handset on you, you’re still good to go.
PayPal says the program has kick-started earlier this year and has seen positive feedback.
“Overall, PayPal employees that have used Beacon and/or Samsung Gear 2 smartwatch have loved their experience and are excited for the larger roll out,” said a company official.
PayPal says wearable payment represents a natural progression in beacon-enabled transactions.