PayPal Inc. has added the ability for users of Android smartphones to fund their accounts by taking a picture of a paper check.
The eBay Inc. subsidiary added the feature to its iPhone application in October. It made the feature available to its app for the Google Inc. Android operating system through an update released Wednesday on the Android Market.
Shimone Samuel, a product experience manager for PayPal Mobile, wrote in a company blog post that the alternative payments provider had received requests for the feature from Android users following the update that added the feature to Apple Inc. iPhones.
"It's true, new features often come out on the iPhone first, but that's only because the iPhone has been around longer," Samuel wrote.
"Rest assured, new PayPal features for Android won't be far behind!"
He added that the company is working on some "top-secret" features specific to the Android app as well as bug fixes.
PayPal's remote check deposit feature is based on technology developed by the vendor Mitek Systems Inc., whose service is also being used by several other vendors and banks, including JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp. and Fiserv Inc.
PayPal customers transfer about $1 million per month into their accounts using the iPhone app, a spokeswoman said.
