PayPal has partnered with a Orderbird, a Berlin-based startup that provides iPad-based point-of-sale systems to merchants, on a check-in service that recognizes users when they enter a business, according to TechCrunch. The service then lets customers pay automatically from their PayPal accounts.

The project is in pilot phase in a small number of cafes and eateries, and if all goes well, would be rolled out to 1,700 merchants across Germany, Austria and Switzerland who use Orderbird, as well as new customers.

As TechCrunch explained, the notion of PayPal linking retail check-ins to seamless payments calls to mind the company's Beacon product; that hardware works with Bluetooth Low Energy technology to push alerts to customers when they enter a participating venue.

A spokesperson said Beacon isn't part of the Orderbird pilot project thus far but did not rule it out.

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