PayPal And Discover Card Partner, Will Offer Payments At 7 Million Locations

PayPal mobile payments are coming to 7 million retail locations. The company on Thursday announced a new partnership between Discover Card and its own online payments platform.

Under the partnership, PayPal users will be able to access their own PayPal accounts at retailers throughout the United States

To use the system, a user will need to link their PayPal account to their own Discover Card. Stores will not be required to install new hardware or software, and signs at the entry way and registers of participating locations will let PayPal users know they can pay with their online accounts. While the system is fully opt-in on behalf of Discovery Card, retailers they will likely join in order to attract and retain clientele.

The new program will not go into effect until sometime in 2013, and, at this time, PayPal and Discover have not revealed the technical specifications for the payment platform.

The move to secure a Discover Card partnership will take PayPal from an online retailer platform with 16 national retail partnerships to millions of business locations. No longer will PayPal be isolated to The Home Depot, Abercrombie & Fitch, and other well known retailers.

While not quite the near-field communications (NFC) setup mobile users are coming to expect, the addition of the new partnership ensures that PayPal can continue to expand its mobile reach while making mobile users aware of its mobile payment efforts.

Earlier this year, PayPal rolled out PayPal Here, a mobile phone card reader that allows merchants to accept major credit cards directly from their internet connected smartphones and tablets.

[viaSlashGear]