PayPal Here, the service that enables small businesses to accept credit card payments by attaching a dongle to a smartphone, has signed up “more than 200,000” merchants since its launch in mid-March, according to comments made by eBay’s president and CEO John Donahoe during the company’s Q1 2012 results announcement.  The dongle was initially launched to selected merchants in the US, Canada, Australia and Hong Kong in the middle of last month. “The response so far has been fantastic,” said Donahoe who expects the dongle to become widely available in Q2 2012.

At the time of the service's launch PayPal said it received 1,000 sign-ups per hour in the first 24 hours of availability.  The dongle effectively transforms a smartphone into a card reader so that small businesses can take payments from credit cards. It is currently available for iPhone and Android smartphones. Among its competitors the most high profile is probably Square. PayPal’s dongle has a distinctive triangular design.  During the call, Donahoe had a poke at Square and other competitors. “And unlike other solutions, it’s global” he said in reference to the device’s availability in a number of countries outside the US. Square and other rivals are currently limited to the US market.

Elsewhere eBay confirmed its previous projection that PayPal will process US$7 billion in mobile payments during 2012, up from US$4 billion in 2011.