PayPal has opted to no longer support Windows Phone, Amazon Fire, or BlackBerry devices, announcing that it will discontinue support for these platforms starting June 30. The company explained that while it was a difficult decision, it’s “the right thing to ensure we are investing our resources in creating the very best experiences for our customers.”
All is not lost, though, as PayPal offers alternative ways for customers on these devices to continue using the payment processing service. Instead of having a native app, customers can access PayPal through the mobile Web. Those using either BBM or Outlook.com can leverage the PayPal functionality to send money to friends.
News of this change is accompanied by a blog post that encourages customers to update their PayPal mobile app (before June 30) to version 6.0, which was released in February and places an emphasis on peer-to-peer payments.
Although PayPal spins the move as giving its customers access to the new bells and whistles that accompany the redesign, it could also be viewed as a way for the company to encourage more usage. The more transactions, the more money it receives — the company reported 1.41 billion transactions last quarter, an increase from an average of 1.39 billion. Total payments processed grew 28.6 percent to $81.06 billion.