Last Thursday, PayPal, the world’s most popular electronic payment service began charting it’s next era in e-payment. In a recent press release, PayPal unveiled its new PayPal Here service for small business merchants. PayPal Here serves as “the world’s first global mobile payments solution that allows small businesses to accept almost any form of payment.” The new service sports a free thumb-size card reader and iPhone app to allow small merchants to accept payment anywhere there is a cellular network available.

While the new service will undoubtedly make credit and PayPal transactions easier. It does much more than just swipe credit cards. PayPal Here also allows merchants to scan cards and checks using the phone camera as well as create and send out invoices with payment terms, directly from the app. The service currently only turns the iPhone into a PayPal mobile payment solution, but Android is not far down the road.

I’m excited to hear of this new service from PayPal as it is even more evidence that the race to revolutionize payment processing is heating up. Apple is capable of stirring everything up (again) as well. iTunes already utilizes Apple’s own proprietary processing technology to transact payments with millions of consumers seamlessly already. Plus, to add to their advantage, they do control the devices that the majority of mobile payments are made on (including the new PayPal Here).

PayPal Gets A Fresh Look

While we wait to see how Apple and others emerge in the mix, consumers are also able to enjoy a newer PayPal thanks to the new iPhone app that was released on Thursday to capitalize on the benefits of PayPal Here for consumers. This comes as a much needed breath of fresh air to users as PayPal has suffered from zero design appeal since it’s original inception up until now.

The new app is a massive improvement to the old and one that will make sending and receiving payments easier.It also unveils a newer look and feel for PayPal which makes us wonder what is next for the brand in the future. The new app plays on the warm, leather design similar to what you find in the Square Card Case app. Slowly, PayPal has been making changes to their website by rolling out a fresher design on secondary pages that are not sensitive to the payment processing services such as their contact and about pages.

Apart from the new design, the app sports a new “Local” feature which uses the iPhone’s location services to find nearby businesses which accept PayPal Here. At these establishments, when you are ready to pay, you will simply tap on your phone to notify the merchant–who can then accept payment using your name and picture.

There are no businesses around me that are accepting PayPal Here yet. But, I am eager to try out the new service soon.

Have you tried the new app or the new PayPal Here service? Let us know about it!

All of these changes come first and on the brink of many changes yet to come to PayPal in the future. Sam Shrauger, the Vice President of Global Product and Experience at PayPal, presented the PayPal’s Digital Wallet at SXSW this past week in Austin, TX. which is meant to allows users to better control and organize their money and how they spend it. You can get a behind the scenes look into the future of PayPal by watching the videos below.

To understand why American Express is one the most innovative companies right now, you have to look at the numbers. And, the numbers that I am referring to have nothing to do with revenue or profit/loss statements. However, the numbers that we are going to look at, do most assuredly result in increased revenue for American Express.

Before, we dive into the figures and the graphs, let me explain what American Express has done recently. Just last week, at the SXSW event in Austin, TX, Amex showcased their new Twitter commerce plan.

In a recent press release, Vice Chairman of American Express, Ed Gilligan put it this way, “American Express is turning Twitter content into commerce by connecting Cardmembers to merchants and delivering real world value to both.”

Amex has developed a Smart Offer API which turns Twitter #Hashtags into couplonless merchant offers. Simply put, when Amex and selected merchants tweet smart offer #hashtags with offers and a Cardmember tweets using that special hashtag, Amex then loads the offer directly to their synced Amex account.

After securing your offer by tweeting a special offer hashtag, you redeem it by using your syned Amex card at the respective merchant. No coupons. Nothing. Just use your card, and your Amex account knows that you did and credits you within a couple of days. If you have not already, you can sync your eligible American Express card with Twitter here.

But, this deal is not just a win for the consumer and merchant. American Express is one of the first companies to captialize on Twitter in a real world, tangible, e-commerce way that makes sense for both consumer and merchant, all the while building even more brand loyalty around Amex.

Overlooking the added value to Amex due to credit, interest, and transactional processing fees,–not because it is not worth talking about, only because it is beyond the scope here–I want to focus on their Twitter impact. Plus, there are more financially minded people out there to crunch all the numbers for you, who could do a far better job. So, let’s focus on the social impact solely found on Twitter between @AmericanExpress and their many loyal followers by studying the graph below.

In the past 4 days, Amex has spiked in their number of followers. The day that they released the first hashtag offer at SXSW on March 12, they gained over 18,000 followers. And, it’s been a steady climb since then. Now, it’s only been a few days since their new program launched. But, I have to think that this is not going to slow down anytime soon. These results and the ones to follow, are why American Express is one of the most innovative companies out there right now.

Amex is on to something big within their thinking, and they have the capability, resources, and now a loyal following to make big things happen. I can’t wait to see what’s next. I can already tell you, what is next is their advertising solution for small businesses on Twitter.

What do you think about Amex and what they are doing socially using Twitter?

One thing that I truly love most about living in Athens, Georgia is the experience of the changing seasons. I know that many arguments can be made by myself and others as to the brilliance of year-round springtime. However, I appreciate being able to experience the brilliance of four distinct seasons, climates, wardrobes, and activities. The purpose of each season as they refresh our souls, turn the soils, and continue the cycle of old to new is worthy of my attention.

These changing seasons also beg my mind to consider my own faith, relationships, and life that experience change; even if on a more shifting and unpredictable timetable than that of the climate.

One thing that I believe to be true is what the God of the Bible says about himself and his people in his Scriptures. I try, albeit it’s not always easy, to take rest in the fact that God knows the seasons that I am in and the ones I am soon to enter into, and that He is never caught off guard with what life throws my way. In fact, Paul reminds the ancient Church in Ephesus, and now us as we read, of this so as to keep us focused on this truth when he wrote:

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” – Ephesians 2:10 ESV

I take delight knowing that God is preparing me to walk into the seasons of life that I am currently experiencing and will soon experience in the future days, months, years, and relationships of my life. Furthermore, being reminded that I was created in Jesus to do, act, and perform good works is encouragement to open my eyes to see my current life situations and those of tomorrow as intentional pursuits of his good.

As the seasons change, realize that the changes in life are just as intentional and purposeful.

We’ve all heard it before. “Practice practice practice,” or “practice makes perfect.” If we are going to be honest with ourselves for just a moment, we really know two things to be true about these phrases. One, these phrases conjure up memories of some coach or teacher trying to get us to be better at something when we were younger that we really had no desire to ever perform. And, two, they were right. Practice does make perfect.

I mean let’s be honest here. How many times have you found it to be true in your life that one day you woke up, tried something for the first time, and were already the best that you could be? Don’t misunderstand me. We’ve had those experiences where we tried something for the first time, and bam. Light goes off. You made contact. The equation computed. The painting was awe inspiring. While these experiences are indeed incredible and yes, even good performances, they weren’t perfect (and rarely even great). They were, however, gripping. That moment reeled you in. You were now…a lifer. It didn’t matter what it was going to take. You were committed to that game, that sport, that academic, or that career path, forever more.

How many lifers out there are excelling in their crafts and their fields, without practice? A few? None? Sure, there are a few with that raw, natural, born innate talent that gives them a skillful edge over their competition. But, even the naturals will plateau without practice. They will stop climbing, they will be surpassed, and then they’ll wonder what happened. It takes practice, and we know this to be true.

So, what do you practice? Or, let’s ask this question of ourselves first. What do I perform? I’m not talking only about sports in this case. What roles do I play? What do I do? What do I spend my time doing? Do you golf? Do you cook? Are you a husband or a wife, a son or a daughter? Are you a barista or an accountant? Are you a Christian? We may have never thought about these questions before in this light. But, if you answer yes to some of these questions or ones similar, then you have identified the ways in which you perform.

So, what do you practice? Why do we only attribute practice to sports or music from our childhood? If practice makes us better in those areas of sports and musicianship, then why not in the other areas of our lives- that maybe even matter more. Speaking for myself, I would rather be better (and maybe even moreso) at my relationships current and future and my devotion to God.

Let’s try taking time out of our days to practice. If it’s golf, let’s take time to chip and putt in our back yards or workout when we can’t swing a club. If it’s cooking that we love, then let’s read blogs and taste unique foods and try new restaurants and pay attention to all of our senses. If you’re a husband or boyfriend, then let’s practice loving and serving one another. If you’re single, then let’s practice all the qualities and characteristics that we know our future spouses will need or want us to be. But, let’s be intentional. Let’s understand that practice makes perfect. Let’s understand, that I may not be perfect now, but I want this! And, then let’s practice practice practice until we have it, and then practice some more. Let’s never settle for a high plateau. Let’s always resolve to keep getting better.