PayPal bringing ‘T-commerce’ to a TV near you

With the increasing presence of “intelligent” or web-connected televisions opening up new ways for us to interact with content PayPal is looking to this new territory as an area ripe for them to bring their service to.

Today the company announced an new initiative that they are referring to as “T-commerce” which will allow consumers to access their digital wallet to buy products using their TV remote. Osama Bedier, VP of Platform, from PayPal wrote about the initiative this morning on the company blog:

Today, I’m happy to say we’re one step closer to equipping every living room in America with T-commerce powered by PayPal. We’re working with Canoe Ventures, which was founded by the country’s leading cable operators to create interactive products and services, to make this a reality. Other major players that have joined us include Catalina Marketing, Delivery Agent, FourthWall Media and icueTV. Canoe’s “test bed” is Canoe Ventures Innovation Lab, where work is already underway.

Together, we are pushing forward the very future of television as an interactive shopping experience that harnesses the ease and safety of PayPal. Imagine this: lounging on your couch and channel surfing, then finding that perfect birthday present. A few clicks of your remote, and you’ve purchased the gift via your PayPal account. Pretty cool, right?!

We at PayPal believe that the wallet should live and will live “in the cloud.” Internet-connected devices will be the very fabric of the digital lifestyle. And as televisions increasingly become Internet enabled, they open up whole new avenues for new ways to connect and sell to consumers directly. We are proud to support our developers as they push forward with this vision.