PayPal Offers Free Processing to Attract Software Startups

PayPal is offering to waive $50,000 in processing fees for startups designing mobile or Web-based services through the eBay unit's Startup Blueprint Program.

"Every dollar matters when people are starting and running a new company," says Stan Chudnovsky, vice president of growth at PayPal, in an Oct. 29 blog post. "PayPal itself was a very small startup company just 15 years ago. We understand very well how hard it is. We also know how important the startup ecosystem is becoming for all of us."

The fee waiver lasts for the first 18 months a startup works with PayPal. The company is also providing its developer-focused customer service to startups that use it for processing.

To be eligible, a company must be less than five years old, privately held and make less than $3 million in annual revenue. PayPal or one of the incubators in the program — including Seedcamp, 500Startups and Elevator — will nominate the companies for application.

The program follows on an earlier PayPal fee-waiver program called "Cash for Registers," which launched in May, giving free payment processing through the end of the year to merchants that switch from cash registers to a mobile point of sale system through PayPal or one of its partners.

PayPal has recently also pushed for regulatory reform, which could ultimately help startups by basing regulation on data analytics instead of design standards.

PayPal has 137 million active account holders in 193 markets.