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Pizza Express and PayPal announce in-app payment system for iPhone

Starting today, you’ll be able to pay your Pizza Express through your smartphone- dodging the need to wait to pay the bill, and leave as soon as you’ve finished.

It will all be done through an app, powered by Paypal. It’s the first time that PayPal have offered their online payment system on the UK high street, and can be used in all of its 370 restaurants.

Currently available on iPhone only, you’ll be able to pay for your meal at any point, through the device and your phone’s WiFi connection.

We’ve been in contact with Pizza Express, and John Sullivan, IT director at Gondola, who developed the app, said that they were reacting to customers’ rquests for functions based in the app, and the iPhone stood out as the most popular smartphone to develop for.

An Android version may appear later this year, depending on the response to the iPhone version. He added that the app also works well on iPads, though pizza-hands and iPads don’t mix that well.

Pizza Express are tieing-in the new app with the installation of  The Cloud’s free WiFi services in its restaurants, meaning even iffy 3G signal shouldn’t stop you. Payments are processed with all with the security of PayPal, the big online payment service.

Cameron McLean, General Manager at PayPal, said, “Combining our payments experience with PizzaExpress’s ground breaking app should be a perfect combination. The line between the high street and the online world is blurring, and innovative brands like PizzaExpress recognise that payment by mobile makes a great service even better.”

Some extra additions include the ability to locate your nearest restaurant, make a reservation and even check the menu in advance. We’ve been told you’ll even be able to store special offers and your receipt history within the app; Pizza Express, paperless restaurant?

You will have to sign-up to Pizza Express’ mailing list, but it looks like pizza addicts will be rewarded with plenty of goodies. Orange Wednesday’s two-for-one offer can also still be used.

Mark Angela, Chief Executive of Pizza Express says, “We knew there was no point just launching an app for the sake of it, so we waited until we had a system that could genuinely improve our customers’ experience of eating out at Pizza Express. We believe today’s version does exactly that and we’re looking forward to developing it in the future.”

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