Online payments giant PayPal will enable consumers to make payments in Home Depot stores by inputting their mobile numbers into payment terminals as part of a pilot with the retailer. The pilot will run in five Home Depot stores where shoppers will pay for goods by typing their phone number, as well as a PIN code, into the shop’s payment terminal, according to The Wall Street Journal. The phone number is connected to the user’s PayPal account.  PayPal parent eBay said last summer it planned to have a mobile payments trial up and running with a major US retailer before the end of 2011. CEO John Donahoe (pictured) made the claim at eBay’s Q2 results announcement where he added that other trials of mobile technology with a number of retailers would follow in 2012.

PayPal is developing a mobile wallet that is stored on a consumer’s smartphone or a PayPal pre-paid card, both of which shoppers will use to make payments during the pilot with the retailer. A small number of the payment provider’s employees are already testing the technology at the five Home Depot stores.