The shift in emphasis acknowledges the blurring of the boundaries between online, mobile and physical channels as PayPal makes a play for face-to-face transactions at the physical point-of-sale.

Explaining the change, Ed Eger, SVP and general manager for PayPal Americas says: "In the same way that Apple did when it dropped 'computer' from its name in 2007 to represent its move beyond the Mac to a comprehensive consumer electronics company, this name change represents our move away from our online heritage to the future of PayPal and the multi-channel nature of payments in the new retail environment."

PayPal Payments operates on a three-tier model, labelled 'Standard', 'Advanced', and 'Pro', with a basic set of functionality underpinning the free Standard level, to more sophisticated check-out options available for paying customers.