PayPal Here Is More Than a Square Imitator - NYTimes.com: The PayPal app also lets you accept checks just by photographing them, front and back, the way some banks’ apps now do. At that point, the check is as good as deposited; you can actually tear up the check if you like.
PayPal’s other twist: When you sign up, one additional click gets you an optional MasterCard debit card. What’s attractive about this card is that your PayPal Here sales land in its account immediately; you can use it to withdraw cash from an A.T.M., or you can use it to buy stuff for you or your business. You get 1 percent cash back on credit purchases with this card.
I’ll admit it; copycats make me cranky. Some company goes to the immense effort and cost of developing a revolutionary idea that changes the game — and others slide in on the first company’s coattails. It’s just tacky.
In this case, though, I’ll grudgingly hand it to PayPal: the card-photographing, check-scanning and debit-card features genuinely give this Square ripoff some improvements that offer real utility.