Paypal Here Tips For Novice Users

Today's post shares a few tricks I learned while using Paypal Here to accept credit card payments at markets.  I have been meaning to write this post since I attended the Kingston Makers Market back in early December, but have only gotten round to doing it!  Let me state that this is not meant to be a comprehensive post about using Paypal Here at markets.  Instead, I am sharing a few tips learned from my experience of using Paypal Here on an android smartphone which I did not find in Paypal's "how to" guide for using this technology, and which I know have confused many users.

Problem 1:

My first tip is one which Paypal had not addressed when I was first learning to use Paypal Here.  The app allows users to sign into Paypal using a simple PIN rather than their secure, but lengthy password.  This was a very handy addition to the app because you really don't want to be typing in your 25 character password at a market every time a customer asks to pay via credit card.  However, many users, including myself, found that even though they had set a secure PIN with Paypal, the app did not allow them to sign in with their PIN.

Tip 1:

The solution to this problem is a little odd, but very simple.  Through lots of online searches I discovered that you can only use a PIN to sign into Paypal Here when your phone is set to your country's language.  So, for a seller like me in Australia, I had to change my phone's language settings to "English (Australia)" to use my Paypal PIN.  This can present a problem for those whose smartphones do not have their country of origin's language setting (I know some android phones do not have the English (Australia) option).  But for everyone else, changing your language setting should resolve the PIN issue.

Problem 2:

The very first time I used Paypal Here at a market, the app had a minor meltdown and would not allow me to process payments because I had not set my GPS location on my phone (I routinely turn off GPS tracking on my phone).  While not a major problem, it was a little embarrassing in the middle of a transaction, and my poor customer had to wait for me to resolve the GPS issue before I could process their sale.

Tip 2:

The Paypal Here app requires your physical location for transactions as it includes this information in your transaction receipt (which is helpful for record keeping for both you and your customer).  The solution to this is, of course, very simple.  If you don't have GPS turned on on your phone, just remember to turn it on along with your Bluetooth and mobile data settings when you arrive at your market.

So there are my two very simple, but absolutely essential, tips for using Paypal Here on your android phone at markets.  I hope this helps new users before you attend a market.