PayPal Here Expanding Retail Presence With Invasion In AT&T Stores

Mobile payments may be the wave of the future, but NFC may still have some maturing to do. Meanwhile, physical card reading products like Square seem to be hitting the sweet spot in the here and now, and PayPal's not going to let the opportunity pass it by. PayPal's version of the Square reader, dubbed Here, is now on sale on AT&T stores. It's the first major foray into retail locations for PayPal Here, and it should definitely expose the option to a new crowd of potential users. Much like Square, Here enables users to plug a card reading dongle into a headphone jack, swipe a credit card and complete a transaction right on one's phone. It's a simple way to accept credit card payments for Craigslist sales and the like. Furthermore, PayPal has announced a partnership with Discover to access its seven million retail shops in the U.S. in the spring of 2013. Of course, PayPal has its fair share of pundits, and its customer service record is far from stellar, but a physical showcase will likely help it in the fight to stay current versus Square.