Hasta La Ideas

Having primed retailers with Simon Doonan‘s wintry whimsybombs of posable manikins and blue tulle, Paypal has debuted a mobile payments system for small businesses that operate in the real world, not just the e-commerce ether. PayPal Here is an app and thumb-sized credit card reader for use on any iPhone (Android version coming soon), and the company tapped Yves Behar‘s fuseproject to mastermind the roll-out, from strategy and identity to user interface and packaging. “Most payment transactions are disconnected and confusing, with Paypal Here we sought to create an ecosystem where all elements are clear, simple, consistent, and a pleasure to use,” says Behar, whose team developed the arrowish Here logo as a symbol for easy payment that straddles the physical and virtual worlds. It carries through to the swiper. “The offset surface layer on the card reader easily identifies the credit card swiping track for the user,” explains Behar of the two-tone blue device, which fits on a smartphone and ships in a corrugated triangular box. “The front triangle is also an innovative drop-down lock that prevents swivel or pivot when one swipes a card.”

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