Back in 2011, PayPal debuted PayPal Access, a payments identity technology that would allow you to carry your payments identity to various retailers on the web. It’s essentially a cross between Amazon’s payments platform and Facebook Connect. Today, the payments giant is announcing a new name for the product, Log In With PayPal, and adding a number of new features including mobile support.
With Log In With PayPal, instead of signing up with a specific retailer’s credentials on a site, you would sign up with your PayPal account which would include all of your financial, shipping and billing information, as well as your purchase history. PayPal says having an identity that ties with commerce (as opposed to social with Facebook Connect) makes sense for retailers and shoppers. Currently, thousands of retailers are using the log in system, as well as social login providers Gigya and Janrain.
Now developers and merchants can enable Log In With PayPal on mobile sites. Consumers only need to remember one username and password (or mobile number and pin) to sign in, and have credit card and shipping address information filled in automatically. PayPal feels that there is huge potential for the technology on mobile since many consumers abandon their shopping carts when having to remember multiple passwords or fill in forms with shipping and billing info on phones.
The company adds that log ins will also work in international markets.
PayPal wants to be the Facebook Connect for commerce sites and retailers, which is ambitious. But the success of Log In With PayPal will rest ultimately on the response of retailers, especially on mobile.