PayPal Launches Pebble App to Allow Smartwatch Payments [PIC]

PayPal has announced it has launched a mobile app for the Pebble smart watch to allow users to check-in to stores and pay via the app, right from your wrist:

So today, we’re sharing that the PayPal app is now available for Pebble. With the PayPal app, Pebblers are able to check-in to pay or pay with payment code at numerous retailers, restaurants and other local businesses accepting PayPal. You can also receive payment notifications while on-the-go through our app – without taking out your phone.

This move by PayPal to allow smart watch payments reminds us of Apple’s plans to allow Apple Watch to make Apple Pay mobile payments; however, the latter will be able to make payments without requiring users to have their iPhone with them, based on authentication via passcode, biometrics and heart rate monitoring.

Users are required to login with their PayPal credentials within the PayPal Pebble app and authorize location data. Once they check-in from the Pebble at a retailer, information will be shared with the point-of-sale terminal to authorize a payment.

We just tested this PayPal app with our Pebble watch—and were unable to find retailers near us, aside from ones located down in the USA (which we weren’t even near). Once you press the middle button on the Pebble, it’ll show the retailer’s location.

Another press will authorize a payment (you must have a funding source setup), which of course the Pebble failed to display with its ongoing screen bug:

Sounds like a neat way to pay via PayPal, but of course it requires retailers that have POS systems setup to accept PayPal. While PayPal may be ‘first’, this solution is far from being the most user friendly and elegant.