PayPal is set to make its debut on the UK high street via a new mobile phone payment system being introduced by national restaurant chain Pizza Express.
The popular pizza chain is launching a new iPhone app that allows customers to pay their bill at any time during their meal and leave the restaurant when they want to.
Pizza Express expects the new service will be welcomed by busy customers who just want to eat-and-go, without waiting to request and pay the bill.
The launch is being supported by a company-wide roll-out of free WiFi via The Cloud and new electronic point of sale systems at the chain's 370 outlets across the country. Freely downloadable from the Apple app store, the new app also enables customers to find and book a restaurant table, view menus, and store special offer codes and receipts.
The introduction of the system marks an important breakthrough for PayPal, which sees the smartphone as an ideal vehicle for moving into the world of bricks and mortar payments.
Cameron McLean, general manager, Merchant Services at PayPal, says: "Over a million UK PayPal customers have made a payment on their handset so combining our payments experience with PizzaExpress's ground breaking app should be a perfect combination. The line between the high street and the online world is blurring, and innovative brands like PizzaExpress recognise that payment by mobile makes a great service even better."