PayPal Review

As someone who didn't really make use of PayPal or any of its services until about a year ago, I was quite interested in seeing what the official app could offer in the realm of convenience. I imagined being able to manage invoices, request payments, transferring money, and all other handy tasks on-the-go. What I got wasn't what I was hoping for.

PayPal is designed as a sort of mobile payment app. Users can check their account history at a glance, as well as send money, request money, or find local businesses that accept PayPal as a form of currency. Seeing as the only business the app could find in my area is is a photo studio in New Jersey, I haven't had the opportunity to try it out in any meaningful way. But it is a present feature that could see some use in the right situations.

PayPal's interface is simple and direct, which translates to being very easy to use. Similarly, being able to check account history and balances at a glance is very handy. I also imagine the whole "local business" finder thing would be fairly useful at times, but as I've mentioned I couldn't really try it out. And unfortunately, that's about where the usefulness ends.

The problem with the PayPal app is pretty much everything else. Yes I can request and send money, but only in single transactions. I can't create invoices, request transfers, or even really manage anything. It might be handy for direct one-to-one transactions, but it can't really do much else. Simply logging into the website allows for far more useful options.

PayPal can be convenient, in the right situation, but overall it just seems like it's missing something. In fact, it seems like it's missing a lot. With a little more functionality it could be a boon to just about all users of the service. Until then, it's more of a quaint example in what could be.