PayPal and Vodafone Team Up for Contactless NFC Payments in Stores

PayPal is taking a big step into real-world shopping. It has partnered with Vodafone to let people use NFC (Near Field Communication) technology for easy payments in stores. Starting June 27, if you’re in Italy and use the Vodafone Wallet, you can now pay in shops, restaurants, and retail stores using your PayPal account—just by tapping your phone.

There are 500,000 payment POS terminals in Italy that now support this method, which is twice as many as last year. This is the first time Vodafone and PayPal are working together, and it means you can now use PayPal for both online and offline payments.

What’s the Big Deal?

Until now, PayPal was mostly used for buying things online. But with this move, PayPal is entering the physical payment world—you can now pay in-person, just like using a credit card or cash, but with your phone.

In 2016, more European countries will join in. Millions of Vodafone users across Germany, Spain, the UK, Italy, and the Netherlands will be able to link their PayPal accounts to their Vodafone Wallets and pay using NFC.

This works using a special SIM card that supports contactless payments—no internet needed at checkout.

Why It Matters

More and more people use digital tools every day. Just like how we now use mobile boarding passes instead of paper ones, mobile wallets are becoming the next big thing.

In Italy, smartphone use is rising fast. Back in 2015, 16 million people used NFC to pay—33% more than in 2014. And with Vodafone already supporting Visa and MasterCard, adding PayPal makes mobile payments even easier.

Now, with this Vodafone-PayPal partnership, paying with your phone is simple, fast, and safe—online or in the real world.