PayPal is apparently rolling out a number of traditional banking features, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. The digital payment giant is offering users debit cards they can use to withdraw from ATMs, the ability to instantly deposit a check to their account by taking a photo of it and the option to have their employers direct-deposit their earnings to their account, among other products. PayPal, which has been testing those offerings over the past months, has teamed up with small banks to make all those possible. A Delaware bank will issue debit cards for the company, another bank in Georgia is in charge of depositing money to accounts of users who upload photos of their checks, while a bank in Utah will provide money for personal and small business loans.
This is far from the first time the company is offering its users physical cards they can use to withdraw money: there’s the PayPal Cash card and the PayPal prepaid MasterCard linked to users’ accounts. In fact, according to TechCrunch, the payment titan is offering these services to existing prepaid card holders. If its records say you load cash to your card from retail locations or use PayPal in a way someone with no bank account does, then you can expect to hear from the company sometime in the near future.
You probably won’t be interested in these new features if you already have a bank account, after all, even if they don’t have monthly fees or require a minimum balance. PayPal COO Bill Ready told WSJ and TechCrunch that the company is targeting the “unbanked,” who tend to spend a considerable sum paying off interests and fees from lenders. “For folks who don’t have bank accounts,” he said, “for folks who don’t have credit and debit cards, we want to give them something so they’re not turning to prepaid cards, check cashiers and payday lenders.”
Source: engadget.com
Top Brands
