What is PayPal? A new update to its mobile apps, set to be unveiled today, had me thinking about that question. If PayPal executes well on the opportunities it’s exploring, it may have many millions of its users rethinking the money-moving service, too.
The brief version is that the old PayPal, born on the Web and raised on e-commerce, is making way for the new PayPal, a service that lets you pay in stores and restaurants as easily as you pay online. Actually, perhaps more easily than you do online.
A Brief History Of PayPal
I opened my PayPal account on June 25, 2000. PayPal actually stores my complete account history, and wading through it was a treasure trove of financial nostalgia.
There was a $17.50 payment to my brother, which earned us both a sign-up bonus. A transfer to my skeptical editor, who was so loathe to embrace online finance that he refused to set up an account and returned the money. Recurring monthly payments to a friend who once hosted my website—a sad reminder that he passed away years ago. eBay auctions, of course, and countless other online stores that earned my custom over the years.
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