PayPal is dangling its new dongle out there for small businesses who want to take mobile payments from customers’ credit cards. Its new “PayPal Here” gadget and PayPal app will join its fellow phone dongle, Square, in plugging in on iPhones and eventually, Android phones, so owners can accept payment wherever they happen to be selling stuff.

Reuters says the new triangular device is different from others like Square, however, or other gadgets where smartphones can be tapped on sensors to pay.

PayPal’s dongle (it’s a real word, we swear), will encrypt customer card information before its sent to the PayPal app on the mobile phone, to prevent customer data from being stolen or lost, claims the company.

Merchants who don’t want to use PayPal to link to a major bank account can sign up for a debit card and go to an ATM to withdraw cash for the sales they’ve made. Each sale will cost a merchant 2.7% of the purchase on all cards, compared to Square’s 2.75% charge.

PayPal takes on Square in mobile payments [Reuters]

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