PayPal Charge, the App that recharges phones

PayPal’s DNA is inherently driven by the desire to create innovative ways to manage money, always offering new choices and maximum flexibility in sending payments, paying, or getting paid.

This distinctive trait now also takes the form of an app – PayPal Carica – designed by the leading online payment company specifically for the Italian market and developed in collaboration with epay, an international player specializing in prepaid products. This product is particularly aimed at families with teenage children, where requests for phone credit top-ups often become urgent.

PayPal Carica is designed to do exactly what its name suggests: provide phone credit top-ups for SIM cards of major mobile carriers, with just a few simple and immediate steps.

Whether the family uses a single operator or has different phone plans with Vodafone, Wind Tre, or Tim for each family member, PayPal Carica is the solution every parent has been looking for to ensure their children, or themselves, never run out of credit.

PayPal Carica puts an end to using different apps and the additional time previously required to top up each individual mobile carrier. The process is very simple. Just download the app, confirm your details, and you’re ready.

To purchase top-ups, you will need a PayPal account, while to request them, you just need to use the app, which will send the request to whoever will then top up. PayPal Carica can be linked to your smartphone’s contact list and allows you not only to request top-ups but also to accept top-up requests with a single tap.

The story behind the development of PayPal Carica stems from observing mobile data in Italy, a market notoriously composed of about 80% prepaid SIM cards, with users who are attentive to promotional offers and frequently change mobile carriers. Consequently, in this market, parents have to top up phones for all family members at least two or three times a month via carrier websites, individual carrier apps, or, less frequently, scratch cards.

PayPal recognized the need for a single solution to manage phone credit easily and ensure themselves, their children, and other family members always have the top-up they need to stay connected. Before PayPal Carica, in fact, there was no unified solution, and using different apps, one for each carrier, risked complicating top-up operations, not to mention the risk of not being able to control overall spending.