PayPal is bringing a little extra personality to the relatively impersonal process of money sharing between consumers by bringing in designer Jonathan Adler to design some colorful e-gift cards to share for the holiday season.

The partnership is an attempt to liven up the process of money sharing and turn it from a rote procedure into something with a bit more warmth to it in time for the holiday season. PayPal is hoping that consumers will take to the new, more colorful money sharing capabilities and use them as holiday gifts.

“Fact: Money makes the world go round, which kind of makes it the perfect present. Sending money digitally as a gift never felt truly personal or stylish—until now,” said Jonathan Adler, the designer that PayPal has partnered with. “With PayPal, we have created something that with just a few clicks lets you send money easily and chicly. It’s a gift people are as excited to receive as they are to spend.”

Personality makeover
Picking the right gift for someone is difficult no matter how well you know them. For many, answering the dreaded “what do you want for the holidays?” question can be even more difficult.

PayPal is aware of this predicament and thinks it has the solution in the form of money sharing.

Citing one of its own recent studies, PayPal found that the number one thing most people want for Christmas is just money. Additionally, 62 percent of people wished they could just ask for money instead of a traditional present.

Complications arise with another statistic. Almost the same amount of people, 63 percent, do not want to give money as a holiday present for fear that it is not personal enough.

PayPal is aiming to relieve some of these complicated social knots by solving both problems at once.

The money sharing service is encouraging users to share the gift of money this holiday season and overcome the notion that it is too impersonal even though it is what most people actually want.

To do this, PayPal teamed with Jonathan Adler to design a series of personalized mobile e-gift cards that can be shared with other consumers.

Each card is colorful and full of personality with the option to customize it further with messages and names specific to the person being given the gift.

Gift of cash
PayPal has been expanding its mobile presence in recent months in an effort to get more customers engaged on the mobile channel. These efforts have ranged from consumer-friendly ones such as this Jonathan Adler campaign to more technical innovations.

For example, recently PayPal unveiled a new app specifically designed for businesses to manage their financial interests and payments (see story). PayPal business lets users track orders and see customer information all through the app.

PayPal has also begun working with Mastercard to make the mobile payment process easier (see story).

Taken together, these projects signify a clear goal of making the entire PayPal suite of functions more mobile-friendly, in an attempt to capture as many consumers as possible in this increasingly competitive mobile world.

 “With more people asking for gifts – and giving money – via P2P payments this holiday season, we needed to find a way to make it personal,” says Patrick Adams, CMO of PayPal North America. “Our partnership with Jonathan is unlike anything we’ve ever done, and helps consumers stress less. His unique holiday card designs make sending money easy and fashionable – something that gift cards and traditional holiday cards simply don’t provide.”