PayPal Here credit card app for Windows and Windows Phone due in early 2015

By Daniel Rubino
last updated

PayPal Here (site (opens in new tab)), a credit-card scanner and app service akin to Square, is set to debut on Windows and Windows Phone sometime in early 2015.

The information comes via an email sent to a reviewer asking about the app, who is informed that a pilot program is set to begin in "January-February 2015". The PayPal Here app is releasing to Windows 8.1 first and then Windows Phone 8.1 shortly thereafter.

PayPal Here for Windows Phone

PayPal Here was announced way back in spring 2012 as a way for the financial-transaction company to compete against Square, who was then dominating mobile point-of-sales through tablets and phones. The service includes a card-reading dongle that is placed in the 3.5mm headphone jack that works with software to process the transaction and monitor sales.

Square has no plans to support Windows or Windows Phone, at least to our knowledge. With PayPal Here finally arriving, Windows and Windows Phone stands a much better chance of mass-adoption by independent companies, who so far have had to eschew the OS due to lack of service parity. PayPal Here is available on iOS and Android.

Currently, PayPal has an app for Windows Phone but only for consumers to manage their accounts.

Windows Central will continue to follow the development of the app, which is likely not due until the early spring following testing.

Thanks to our source who wishes to remain anonymous

Daniel Rubino
Daniel Rubino
Editor-in-chief

Daniel Rubino is the Editor-in-chief of Windows Central, head reviewer, podcast co-host, and analyst. He has been covering Microsoft since 2007 when this site was called WMExperts (and later Windows Phone Central). His interests include Windows, laptops, next-gen computing, and for some reason, watches. Before all this tech stuff, he worked on a Ph.D. in linguistics, watched people sleep (for medical purposes!), and ran the projectors at movie theaters because it was fun.

66 Comments
  • We're getting there. :) (App parity, that is. Slowly but surely)
  • This and watchespn were the apps I was looking forward to. Bring on watchespn now!
  • Watchespn? In the words of wisdom from Microsoft: Soon™
  • It should be soon.  ESPN is one of the Disney networks and we already have Watch ABC, Watch Disney Channel, Watch Disney XD, and Watch Disney Jr.... ESPN shouldn't be far behind.
  • Too f-in slow
  • Yeah, I'm waiting on WatchEspn to.
  • Well its about time!
  • So weird. I was JUST reaserching POS options for windows this morning. Looking forward to this so I can drop the credit card industry and their processing scams and hidden fees. 
  • Cant wait
  • when will lumia denim coming on my phone
  • Before April 2015.
  • I meant it as sarcasm though, I was trying to imitate those kinds of users, you know, anyway thanks :p ;) btw this app sounds good.
  • Isn't 10 dev preview gona be out before then.........??
  • Great news. But hopefully the service
    will be smart chip card ready.
  • Waiting for vlc.. They said this week :/
  • Yeah, as I said: Soon™
  • Unforeseen delays™
  • Although we're Microsoft, just care more about iOS and Android™.
  • So True!!!
  • Brilliant!!!!
  • I been waiting for this i contacted square and i was told they had no app for Windows coming..so thanx pay pal for that.
  • Yeah people at Square are really square..
  • Square-brained... Not hare brained :p
  • About time. Was thinking of returning my wife to IOS just because of the lack of CC swipe in WP.
  • I just had to get a S5 because i needed a square cc reader app. This cant come soon enough.
  • Who? What?
  • Good news.. Awesome
  • The did update the PayPal (consumer) app a couple months back - it lets you use deals and pay your bill now. Actually works pretty well! There are several restaurants here in Omaha I've gotten $5-20 off my meal at thanks to PayPal.
  • Nice, I will use it more now.
  • They broke two-factor authentication while they were at it.
  • Wow finally
  • Finally!
  • Finally it got released
  • Hope it comes out of the box with chip and pin support, otherwise we'll be back to the waiting game.   Anyone know where paypal is in that regard on the other platforms?
  • Re chip and pin. Appears to be a different device. See link in article
  • I don't get why anyone would want a half baked app with their name on it
  • Is there a good solution for windows tablets i.e. winrt?
  • Yes!!! I've been wanting this for a long time. Thank you PayPal!
  • Glorious news! Lets hope it's not in beta for ever. (looking at you instagram)
  • Now this is what I need!!!
  • Finally, as I already have about 8 readers laying around.
  • Nice! Square?
  • Awesome
  • Hopefully intuit will make one soon so I can trash my android tablet
  • Now this is what closing the app gap means. Feature parity is more important imo than getting the app of the month
  • I can't wait!
  • yes!!! finally, i been asking paypal many times about this. i was using my adapter on an itouch, which i got rid off long time ago!! this going to work perfect with my business :)......was getting tired waiting for payments and check deposits.
  • I'm rather looking forward to the JUSP system (currently in use in Italy) making it's way over. Looks as good as iZettle in my opinion.
  • Whenever I forget to turn off NFC, the phone tries to 'talk' to my credit card whenever I set it down on top of my wallet.  This gets me thinking, with the right app, it might be possible to use the phone to take CC payments through NFC?  Who needs these clunky readers? :) Just imagine, even though we can't use NFC to pay for stuff, we can use NFC to receive payments from iphones and such. :D
  • We can make NFC payments where accepted, depending on your carrier.  AT&T now has it with the SoftCard app, but you have to go in-store to get a new, compatible SIM Card.  I just read that SoftCard has now launched on Verizon as well.
  • Very nice, how much? -Borat
  • How is this compared to square? I can use it on my android phone right now? Posted via the Windows Phone Central App for Android
  • Finally I can get rid of my xperia TL, I keep it around just for taking payments...
  • One app to go and I can kiss all these iOS devices goodbye!
  • Thanks PayPal!  Dropped Square a long time ago...
  • Nice. I was using cube and happy with it, but they shut down a while back. Nice to know something else is coming along. Hopefully, they will update their reader to read chip cards too.
  • Thank You
  • Wonder when their fix security key on wp we dont even have a workaround like the other platforms do
  • windows phone users to square: go to hell.
  • Meh...
  • I received the same email last night, so I'm looking forward to testing it.  I teach scuba diving, so the ability to process payments other than cash or check will help tremendously.
  • ow! Goodie, goodie!. Now if paypal would only allow this for bankcards as well. In the Netherlands, bankcards are popular and I use it more than creditcard, because a creditcard has more expensive transaction costs.
  • oh, good, I only have had one of these devices sitting on my desk for about 5 months now.....I guess better late than never...Like everything else with Windows Phone it seems... Why did I get one ? It was $0.99 with free shipping, was going to resell it but, never got to...
  • How do I get onto this pilot?  I run my business CC payments through paypal. 
  • This is great news! Last time I wrote to PayPal about it they said "Currently we have no plans to support windows phone..."
  • I'm wondering whether we are any closer to this happening. Are they close to testing? Is Spring still a feasible target?