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PayPal Holdings Inc. is jumping into the free personalized person-to-person payments game with the launch of PayPal.Me.
Announced Tuesday, PayPal.Me enables consumers to create personalized permanent links to share with others. When clicked, the links then present a Web page for senders to select the amount and the payment method, including from a PayPal account, bank account, or credit or debit card. PayPal.Me requires a PayPal account for payees and payors.
The service is free if users choose the Friends & Family option, but costs 2.9% plus 30 cents per transaction for business accounts.
The process to use PayPal.Me consists of three steps. The first is to share the personalized link. Recipients of the link click on the link to input their payment information and hit send to put their money into the sender’s PayPal account.
PayPal joins Square Cash from Square Inc., Facebook’s Messenger app, and bank-based P2P services such as clearXchange and Fiserv Inc.’s Popmoney among those trying to tap into a market that could reach nearly $17 billion in transactions by 2019.
Payments companies are targeting P2P payments in part because cash still dominates the sector. In a PayPal survey of more than 1,000 U.S. consumers, 69% preferred to get paid back in cash when they share expenses, with 23% opting for a P2P payment, and 8% wanting a check.
The survey also found that the average amount owed to a U.S. consumer for small debts is $449. And, U.S. consumers as a whole are owed $37.6 billion, far more than the $9.2 billion in Germany, $2.6 billion in Canada, or $1.9 billion in Australia.
