PayPal Mobile is a service by PayPal. With PayPal Mobile, you can use your phone to send money to people and buy selected items (advertised with Text to Buy) anywhere within the U.S., Canada or the U.K. You can do both of those things by either sending a text message or calling an automated voice system.
To use the text message method, you'll need to memorize a list of command codes and the sequence & format of how each payment detail should be arranged. Some services even have different SMS numbers to send the information to! Aside from the inconvenience, it is also easy to make mistakes - akin to a three-fingered alien making typos when writing out a check!
The solution is to have a user-friendly menu (or 'wizards' for the PC-inclined) to query and process the data, then format it into the prerequisite order before sending it out to the PayPal Mobile server. This frees the user from having to memorize cryptic codes and reduces the occurance of human errors in manually composing the modern age equivalent of Telegraphic messages!
The "PayPal Mobile" Front-end Menu
The PayPal Mobile Front-end Menu is a small 600 bytes SIM-residing software developed by Tea Vui Huang for the
SmartTrust SmartàLaCarte (aka "WIB Microbrowser") SIM Toolkit client. It can be pre-loaded by the mobile service provider ('cellco'), or installed over-the-air (OTA) using the SmartTrust's "My Service Portal" self-provisioning server.
In Samsung phones like the SGH-D820, the downloaded "PayPal Mobile" front-end menu can be found under the "Application" menu (3.11). Samsung refers to it as "SIM-AT", to quote the manual - "This menu is available if you use a SIM-AT card that supports SIM Application Tool kit menus and provides additional services, such as news, weather, sports, entertainment, and location services. Available services may vary, depending on your service provider’s plans. For details, see your SIM card instructions or contact your service provider."
Which mobile service provider does PayPal Mobile Front-end Menu work with? Firstly, they need to have established the service with PayPal. Secondly , the SIM card issued by them must have a SmartTrust SIM Toolkit program called WIB Microbrowser embedded in it. The latter includes:
# Polska telefornia Cyfrowa (PTC) in Poland
# Claro / America Movil in South America
# Guangdong Mobile (GMCC) in China
# Sonic Duo / Megafon in Moscow
# Excelcomindo (XL) in Indonesia
# MobileOne in Singapore
# Brasil Telecom in Brazil
# Satelindo in Indonesia
# Airtel / Bharti in India
# Globe in Phillipines
Keep in mind the Cellcos advertise this under their own respective brand name, check with your carrier to see if this is available.
