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How to add a gift card to your PayPal account
Did you know you can add gift cards to your PayPal account? Here's how!
PayPal changed the online finance landscape when it launched, allowing users to execute online payments with security and ease. PayPal is widely accepted and allows you to use your credit or debit cards for payment all over the world.
Forget Google Pay, Amazon is adding palm payment to all Whole Foods stores
Shoppers can now use Amazon One to authorize payments at Whole Foods
Using an app or tapping your card to a terminal has made paying in stores like Whole Foods so much easier than handing over cash. Google Wallet, Apple Pay, and even Walmart have apps that make it easier for you to pay for your groceries through your phone. Now, Amazon is stepping in and taking payment to the next level by removing the need for devices.
The best buy now, pay later (BNPL) apps
BNPL apps allow you to finance with zero interest, among other tricks. Here's how they work
The sharp rise of Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) apps leaves consumers, especially electronics consumers, with a question that's new and very old: Should they save the cash to buy more expensive items or use a type of financing?
If you've ever wanted to quickly send funds to someone without jumping through hoops, Venmo is a popular option. As a mobile payment platform, you can use Venmo on your smartphone to securely send and receive funds with a few quick taps. You also don't need a high-end device to use the service. You can easily send funds from one of the best Android budget phones. In this guide, we go over how to set up your first Venmo account and highlight some of its core features you can check out.
Scammed out of thousands from your Venmo or Zelle account? Don't expect an easy refund
Banks are required to refund unauthorized app-based transfers, but many won't without a fight
There are plenty of peer-to-peer payment services out there, but if you're like most people in America, you're probably going to use either Venmo or Zelle. But if you've been extorted of your access to your online banking account, tough luck: there's a very good chance that even if you submit a police report and other evidence with your request for a refund of any unauthorized transactions, your bank will deny you.
Apple's working on a way to let iPhones accept in-person payments, Bloomberg reports. The feature will presumably use NFC and has been in the works for a few years, according to Bloomberg's sources. It may begin rolling out in the next few months, potentially in the iOS 15.4 beta.
Signal beta gets some neat design tweaks and opens up payments to more users
MobileCoin payments are now available in Switzerland, France, and Germany
The latest beta version of the Signal Android app brings a few incremental design changes as well as an expansion to the privacy-focused payments it introduced back in April. MobileCoin transactions were only available to beta testers in the UK before, but they're now being rolled out to three more countries.
Venmo isn't the only digital payment platform that wants a bigger slice of the pie. Its owner PayPal is getting in on the action, with a widespread change of its rates set to go into effect on August 2nd. Barring a few small adjustments to currency exchange and charity rates, almost all of these are increases in processing fees. Most notably, the standard PayPal checkout merchant fee will increase from 30 cents plus 2.9% to 49 cents plus 3.49%.
Google Pay just gave you an extra 11 days to earn your free $30
So don't leave it to the last minute this time
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When billion dollar corporations offer to pay you for something you're already doing, take that opportunity while it's there. Starting April 12, Google Pay is launching the Spring Challenge, a 10-day contest to perform tasks that will potentially earn a gift of $30. It's not quite as easy or straightforward as dropping by the store every day to buy packs of gum, but it should be easy enough, and you can even help your friends.
The new Google Pay app is out of beta
The old version is still on the Play Store, but won't appear in search results
Google has been working on a new beta version of Pay since November, but the old app has been available on the Play Store for users who aren't ready to transition. At least it was until today: anyone searching the Play Store now will be greeted with only the new app, which is out of testing. The old version is still functional, but should start to disappear as users update.
Chrome to get improved payment and password management across devices
Seamless autofill will be available whether you sync Chrome or not
Saving payment information and passwords to Chrome can be super handy, but it currently works only if you choose to sync your settings on each device. Over the coming months, Google will make changes to the payment and password manager so that you can use it seamlessly even when Chrome sync is switched off.
Google Fi ends 60-day late-payment grace period introduced after COVID-19
Google has apparently decided the pandemic is over
Many cell carriers around the world temporarily boosted speeds, forgave late fees, and/or delayed payments as millions of people lost their jobs at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Even though the global economy hasn't quite recovered yet, and some U.S. states have unemployment rates as high as 16%, Google Fi announced it is returning to pre-COVID payment due dates and data limits.
Google Chrome is working on biometric authentication for payment autofill
No more digging through your wallet to find that CVC number for authentication
A few months ago, we spotted Chrome working on Windows Hello integration for payment autofill authentication, sparing you from digging out your physical card to enter your CVC over and over. We've now found out that Windows isn't the only place where Google wants to make access to payment cards easier and more tightly integrated. The company is also working on system-wide authentication for Android (and possibly Chrome OS, Linux, and macOS). Sadly, the feature isn't fully live on any iteration of Chrome for Android yet.
Google confirms new voice-confirmation feature for purchases in Assistant
It's part of a new test and only works for a handful of purchase types
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A new setting to allow Voice Match to confirm purchases made through the Google Assistant has been spotted in the Assistant's Payments and Security settings pane. We've confirmed with Google that the new feature is part of an early but limited pilot that allows you to authorize purchases in a handful of categories with just your voice via the Assistant. Piles of Google's support documents have been recently updated to reference the feature.
Google Pay gains support for 29 new banks and financial institutions in 22 countries (Update: 11 more banks)
Because carrying a wallet is so over
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Google Pay is compatible with a wide range of cards from various institutions around the world. Sadly, there are still a bunch of them that don't work with the contactless payment service. Thankfully, it is constantly gaining support for new banks and financial institutions, including the below 29, spread across 22 countries.
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The Indianized version of Google Pay has cornered the largest chunk of India’s UPI market, piggybacking the username-based P2P payment system. Launched as Tez, Google rebranded the app to Pay following the global consolidation of its payment solutions, though the app retained its distinct functionality that contrasts with its stateside counterpart. About two years into its existence, the app is now getting a design change under Google’s refreshed material guidelines, tidying up some of its UI elements.
Over the past few years, there has been growing criticism from developers towards the substantial cuts that app stores take from purchases, both for applications themselves and in-app transactions. Some argue that the standard 30% cut is too much, and the discussion isn't exclusive to the mobile space either — on PC, game storefronts like Epic and Discord are attempting to make a name for themselves by charging fewer fees. The latest company making a fuss is Match Inc., maker of the Tinder dating app.
Google's payment platform is expanding rapidly. Just a day after rolling out new countries, and after adding support for several cities' transit passes, Google Pay is now able to handle a rather uncommon currency. Indeed, Indian users can now buy and sell gold straight from their phones.
Square, of point of sale/payment processing fame, has just pushed out a new application onto the Play Store for handling invoices. The functionally named "Square Invoices" will allow Square customers to create and fire off invoices and estimates, track payment statuses, and set automatic reminders for unpaid invoices. This is all without any monthly fees — though you still have to pay card processing fees.
Google has gone from a plucky search engine startup to a sprawling international corporation with its tendrils reaching into many aspects of our lives. Sometimes, that provides unique advantages. However, it can also be immensely frustrating when you run into Google's famously lacking customer support. As travel blog One Mile at a Time points out, that's a particularly big problem when it comes to Google Pay and Fi.