PayPal Starts Testing Seamless Online Store Checkouts

PayPal checkout can be unsatisfactory but that could all change when they release its new In-Context Checkout. The technology lets you enter all your billing and shipping info through a pop-up; you never have to visit PayPal itself, and the interface remains simple regardless of what device you’re using. Only a handful of stores are testing the new checkout format today, but the company promises that more large retailers will get to use it in the first half of 2014. Meanwhile, PayPal hasn’t forgotten those who’d rather skip checkout altogether. It’s expanding trials of its hands-free Beacon payment system to retailers in Canada, France, Germany and the UK and expect to roll out the service in the coming months.