PayPal has launched a major update to its Android app for sending, receiving, and managing money.
You can still use PayPal 3.0 to send money, check your balance, or even deposit money in your account by snapping a photo with your camera. But the new version offers better support for tablets, a tweaked user interface, and support for Near Field Communication (NFC) chips.
That means that if you have an NFC capable phone, you can transfer money with another user as long as they also have NFC.
All you have to do is add a widget to your home screen, and tap the “request money” button, enter the amount, and tap your phone against the phone you want to request money from. The PayPal app will open on their device allowing them to confirm the transaction.
PayPal first demonstrated the technique this summer, but the updated app just launched this week.
There aren’t many phones with NFC chips in the US yet, but Google is pushing the platform with its new Google Wallet digital payment service and the Samsung Nexus S smartphone features NFC.
