• Venture Beat, Wednesday, January 11, 2012 11:26 AM

Showing consumers’ taste for mobile payments, PayPal said it did nearly $4 billion worth last year. For eBay’s online payment division, that represented a massive jump from $750 million in mobile payments in 2010. “If you need one example that epitomizes the massive potential in mobile payments, you need only look at PayPal,” VentureBeat writes. “Putting the figure in an even crazier perspective, [PayPal] tallied up a mere $141 million in mobile payments in 2009.”

PayPal mobile vice president David Marcus tells VentureBeat that he initially expected to earn $1.5 billion from mobile payments last year. “He attributes the massive growth to an overall increase in mobile commerce, more useful mobile payments apps blending online and offline capabilities … as well as a massive uptick in iPad-based e-commerce,” VentureBeat writes.

Currently, PayPal is one of the most popular ways for Starbucks customers to top off their in-store credit via its app. Not stopping there, PayPal recently said it was testing in-store payment capabilities at Home Depot, which could let in-store customers pay for purchases using their PayPal account, either through a pin code or a special PayPal card.

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