Having frustrations over not being able to use your PayPal account for purchases on the Play store? Not anymore, as Google announces it is now allowing customers on its app store to use the online money site to complete purchases. The goal is to create more options for users who already have established their PayPal accounts as the main means of purchasing online.
The move however comes as somewhat of a surprise to many observers, who had long believed Google did not want to have a rival to its Google Wallet, which has been attempting to compete with the longer, more established PayPal.
It may be competition, but Google believes that this move will help grow their app development and give users more freedom to choose how they want to purchase apps on their devices.
The new option for payment is now live in 12 countries, including the United States and Canada, Germany and Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom, with others expected to follow.
"Our goal is to provide users with a frictionless payment experience, and this new integration is another example of how we work with partners from across the payments industry to deliver this to the user." Ibrahim Elbouchikhi, Google Play Product Manager, says in a blog post.
With the Play store being the top means of purchasing apps on Android smartphones, many users had long complained that not having PayPal available was a detriment to using their specific device. Now, the two companies, which ostensibly are in competition, will benefit from the changes as Google will still receive a small percentage of the transaction.
However, only apps and digital content can be purchased through the Play Store using Paypal, while products and other services are still not yet allowed to be bought using the online "banking" site.
Google will also now allow Carrier billing in an additional seven countries, where users can purchase apps and have that tacked onto their bill during the monthly cycle.
"Carrier billing-which lets people charge purchases in Google Play directly to their phone bill-continues to be a popular way to pay. We've just expanded coverage to seven more countries for a total of 24, including Singapore, Thailand and Taiwan. That means almost half of all Google Play users have this option when making their purchases," adds Elbouchikhi.
