PayPal to shutter BlackBerry, Amazon Fire, and Windows Phone apps
PayPal has announced that it will be discontinuing its mobile applications on BlackBerry, Amazon Fire, and Windows Phone devices.
As of June 30, PayPal customers with one of those three devices will need to rely on the phone's internet browser to use PayPal, with BlackBerry users still able to use the BBM app to send payments.
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In a statement made on Thursday, PayPal said shuttering the service comes in response to the evolving digital payments landscape.
"It was a difficult decision to no longer support the PayPal app on these mobile platforms, but we believe it's the right thing to ensure we are investing our resources in creating the very best experiences for our customers," the company said.
"We remain committed to partnering with mobile device providers, and we apologise for any inconvenience this may cause our customers."
Also by June 30, Android devices running OS 4.03 or greater and Apple devices running iOS 8.1 or higher will need to have the latest PayPal app -- version 6.0 -- installed in order to use the service on their smart device.
Speaking at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona earlier this year, Dan Schulman, PayPal president and CEO, said his company had a tremendous opportunity to transform commerce and financial services, and that mobile is at the centre of that evolution.
"We are committed to giving people flexibility and choice in the ways they move and manage their money," he said. "We believe the financial system should be more seamless, secure, and affordable to drive the hopes and aspirations of people outside the traditional financial system."
Earlier this month, PayPal announced that it was also going to be discontinuing its protection for customers investing in crowdfunding campaigns.
By June 25, 2016, those who invest in crowdfunding projects via PayPal's online payment portal will no longer be protected if a project collapses or if fund seekers are booted out of the crowdfunding platform for breaking the rules. This means that payments on crowdfunding platforms will no longer be eligible for refunds
In addition, PayPal will no longer cover anything bought from or an amount paid to government agencies, organisations offering gambling or gaming services, or activities with an entry fee and a prize. The exclusion for items equivalent to cash now includes stored value items such as gift cards and pre-paid cards, PayPal said.
In its first quarter earnings, PayPal reported net income of $365 million on revenue of $2.54 billion, which was up 19 percent year-over-year.
The company said it grew its active account base by 4.5 million during Q1, resulting in 184 million active customer accounts by the end of the three months. PayPal also ended the quarter with more than 14 million active merchant accounts.
In 2002, PayPal was acquired by eBay for $1.5 billion; PayPal then split from its parent company 13 years later and began trading on the Nasdaq stock exchange in July 2015.