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 |  Wall Street Journal -
Nov-04-2009ebay's paypal Launches Open Payments System(topic overview)
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"The PayPal X platform and PlaySpan will enable developers to increase conversion and revenue from their online games, virtual worlds, and social networks. This new PayPal payment experience, which uses PayPal'''s new Adaptive Payments APIs, enables developers to provide an optimal PayPal purchase experience for frequent microtransaction type purchases. Customers will be able to make faster, easier transactions without leaving their favorite games and social network applications. Customers simply establish a pin with PayPal that they can then enter directly when using PlaySpan'''s payment products to complete in-app purchases. The first product to showcase this new functionality is the Spare Change payment network, which facilitates microtransactions for over 500 third-party applications on Facebook. '''The PayPal X platform and PlaySpan will enable developers to increase conversion and revenue from their online games, virtual worlds, and social networks. [1] The new payment system combines PlaySpan's virtual goods platform with PayPal's popular electronic payments service. PayPal is launching a new Adaptive Payments application programming interface, a part of its new PayPal X platform, which lets customers make PayPal purchases directly inside social networks. It's all about breaking down the barriers that stop consumers from making impulse purchases in online games. Currently, PayPal users have to visit another web page when they indicate that they want to pay for a virtual good with PayPal. Many users tend to cancel transactions that take them out of a game or social app. So now, with the PlaySpan-based virtual good platform, PayPal users can make a purchase inside the game.[2]
Storenvy's social shopping features allow shoppers to interact and see each others' tastes and comments on products across all stores, creating a crowd-curated selection of "Most Popular" items for new users to discover.'' PayPal's new Adaptive Payments application programming interface (API), the first from its open payments platform PayPal X, allows Storenvy shoppers to use one shopping cart and make one payment transaction, even when buying from multiple stores.''[3] '''You'''ve got to have better pricing. 3% doesn'''t cut it for rent.''' Several new APIs for such functions as currency conversion, pre-approvals, and person-to-person payments were announced at the conference to join APIs for chained, parallel, and single payments that PayPal first disclosed this summer (Digital Transactions News, July 8). PayPal says the new APIs, collectively called Adaptive Payments, should give developers a head start in creating new applications that would otherwise require months or years of programming to take account, for example, of complicated requirements such as compliance with the Payment Card Industry data-security standard. Companies already taking advantage of the new APIs include Fidelity National Information Services, which announced it will use an API to let client banks enable person-to-person payments through their online-banking sites, and Big In Japan, whose ShopSavy comparison-shopping application for mobile phones is using an API to let users pay for products on the spot through PayPal.[4] The model is a $0.50 cents flat free per transaction or 0.75 percent of transaction depending on user cases. PayPal is even gaining traction from large tech companies to integrate the new API. This morning, Sun Microsystems announced a partnership with PayPal to support for-fee applications submitted by developers for distribution in the Java Store. Utilizing the new Adaptive Payment API from PayPal, consumers can authorize the Java Store to bill against their PayPal account so they can simply click the "Buy" button and never have to leave the store.[5]
EBay payment company PayPal now supports 24 currencies on their system after adding Malaysian ringgit, Thai baht, Philippine peso, Taiwan new dollar and Brazilian real to its suite. The availability of these new currencies will allow Australian exporters to sell their goods online to more customers in the Asia-Pacific region in their own money. '''The addition of these new currencies makes it even easier to use PayPal around the world,''' said Scott Thompson, PayPal'''s president. PayPal also announced that it has opened its PayPal X global payments platform to third-party developers, for the purposes of developing currency conversion applications using live exchange rates. Thompson said the new currencies, together with PayPal X, allows users greater flexibility: '''Consumers have more choice in how they pay, merchants can conduct business in more markets around the world, and developers can now create multi-currency applications built on PayPal X.'''[6] EBay Inc.' s PayPal plans to unveil a new system that makes it easier for software developers to integrate the online payments system right into their programsas the company takes new steps to protect its turf. With the new open software, called Paypal X, users won't have to type their username and password into a separate PayPal Web site in order to complete a payment. People will be able to sign into PayPal and make purchases, such as virtual weapons, right inside an application such as a game. "We're taking all of our product capabilities and making them open and.[7] The PayPal X platform hasn't yet been announced, although The Wall Street Journal has a bit of a preview. Here's the key quote: "With the new open software, called Paypal X, users won't have to type their username and password into a separate PayPal Web site in order to complete a payment. People will be able to sign into PayPal and make purchases, such as virtual weapons, right inside an application such as a game."[8]
The recent explosion in third-party applications and games for social media sites like Facebook has created a huge demand for smart, fast, and effective payment systems that can be implemented seamlessly into said applications. Now, PayPal has decided to kick off its own payments system specifically for PayPal users. The eBay-owned company announced at PayPal X Innovate 2009 on Tuesday the launch of an open payments system called PayPal X, which allows users to make payments through their PayPal account all while inside of an application.[9]
SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- 11/03/09 -- PayPal X Innovate 2009 -- Super Rewards has selected PayPal X, the world's first truly global open payments platform, to enhance its virtual currency offer platform, which addresses the payment needs of millions of global consumers who are engaging daily in social games and virtual worlds. The Super Rewards virtual currency offer platform allows game developers to give consumers an alternative way to easily and securely purchase their in-game virtual currency.[10] "Super Rewards is among the first wave of innovators to take advantage of PayPal X to simplify consumers' online payment experience while increasing revenue for game and social application developers," said Osama Bedier, PayPal's vice president of platform. "With PayPal X, developers can focus on what they do best -- creating great applications -- and we take care of all the complexity around payments."[10]
Online payments only represent 5 percent of payments worldwide, Donahoe thinks that online payments should be higher than 20 percent. He believes consumer behavior with regard to payments will change radically in the next few years. This year the eBay app on the iPhone will do $500 million in volume, with PayPal integrated in the payments system. He says he thinks PayPal will be bigger than eBay in time, which he has said before. He wants to double PayPal's reach in the next two years. The developers are a critically important part of PayPal's future, with the company's role to provide robust platforms, such as PayPal X.[5] CNBC reporters were among those swept up in the PayPal Mania taking place in San Francisco at the first dedicated PayPal developers conference. Even attending virtually, I could sense that something was different about this DevCon despite the lack of Cirque du Soleil acrobatics or "Cheers" impersonators of previous eBay/PayPal shared conferences. It was as if the smell of money was in the air, even before the Venture Capitalists show up for their panel tomorrow. John Donahoe said he could care less about the name of the company (ouch). The DevCon was all about opening up the PayPal platform, which he compared to Apple's opening of the iPhone to third-party applications. In his keynote address this morning, Mr. Donahoe said he had given PayPal an unlimited budget to hire the people to make it happen. Mobile payments was top of mind, and Mr. Donahoe said the eBay iPhone app will do $500 million of volume this year.[11] PayPal believes payments for services is a bigger opportunity than ecommerce at over $30 trillion and is opening its platform to third-party developers to capitalize on the opportunity. PayPal is expecting 1,500 attendees at its first dedicated developers conference taking place in San Francisco this week where it will launch the open platform, called "PayPal X."[12] PayPal X Innovate In Facebook-like fashion, PayPal will open its own website to third-party applications as it continues its quest to "power all of ecommerce." At its inaugural developer conference in San Francisco on Tuesday - PayPal X Innovate 09 - the eBay-owned outfit took the beta tag off its PayPal X developer platform, a set of APIs for tapping its core payment-processing system straight from third-party apps.[13]
PayPal X Innovate PayPal and eBay have opened their PayPal X developer platform to world+dog. Named with a nod to PayPal's original url, this new collection of APIs is pitched as a way for developers to embedded payment processing in everything from third-party web apps to online app stores to outside dev platforms.[14] PayPal has been successful because the company has met customer needs for a safe secure, way to pay online. Thompson says the industry has been slow to embrace payment technologies, not because the ideas were bad but because it's a very complicated issue. Today, PayPal opens up its platform, called PayPal X, to all developers. X was originally PayPal's API platform in its early days.[5]
Building PayPal X into expensure.com spares users the "pain" of having to navigate from the Website to take care of money exchanges and lets the service track that payments were made, according to McPhee. "They are using PayPal X to improve the way consumers pay for medical bills and doctor visits, making the everyday lives of consumers easier," said PayPal platform vice president Osama Bedier.[15] We expect the ease of the payment experience to drive higher ARPU,''' said Karl Mehta, Founder & CEO of PlaySpan. '''PlaySpan is already a successful PayPal merchant and we'''re thrilled that they'''ve adopted PayPal X to make it even easier for consumers to buy digital goods,''' said Osama Bedier, PayPal'''s vice president of platform.[1]
"We're introducing new APIs and new pricing," said Osama Bedier, VP of Platform technology at PayPal. Specifically, PayPal will charge 50 cents as a flat fee for transactions, in an effort to encourage more micropayments and applications that facilitate them. Many new APIs are available, and the snapshot of a'' slide below shows only some of them. (All are available at X.com.) The Adaptive Payments API has capabilities for currency conversion, enhancements such as faster pre-approval,'' and can send payments between many types of mobile devices, Bedier said.[16] SAN FRANCISCO--( EON: Enhanced Online News )--PlaySpan, the leader in monetization solutions for online games, virtual worlds, and social networks, is one of the first to enable customers to make PayPal purchases directly inside the Social Networks using PayPal'''s new Adaptive Payments APIs.[1] "Now, thanks to the PayPal's Adaptive Payments APIs, we are able to provide a better way for consumers to engage in online games, and developers to get paid."[10]
Part of the PayPal X platform, the Adaptive Payments API is a set of building blocks that gives developers the tools to create highly customized payment services.[1] The channel is sponsored by Microsoft BizSpark ]] Microsoft BizSpark. Canadian company ConnectionPoint is about to unveil its FundRazr Facebook application as the only service utilizing both PayPal X's Adaptive Account API and its Adaptive Payment API. Initially launched in private beta at TC50, Fundrazr allows users to collect fees and donations through Facebook. While this may seem like a simple Groups tool, users can add members, create fundraising campaigns, generate reports, add organizational admin and most importantly, collect payments.[17] Two of the highlighted APIs that executives showed on a slide include Adaptive Payments and Adaptive Accounts. Several beta customers have already been granted access and begun developing on PayPal X, including GreenDot, Cash.io, and Spare Change Inc. Sun also showed off a beta version of its Java Store Beta powered by PayPal X, where customers could try out the app, then drag it to thes desktop and pay via PayPal.[18]
The competition will challenge the Australian developer community to create the most innovative payment application using Adaptive Payments, the first PayPal X API, at an on-site developer '''code and build''' event. The winner will receive a substantial cash prize to help them commercialise their application.[19] Ahead of the public launch of PayPal X at Innovate 2009 in San Francisco, more than 25 Australians joined the thousand-plus developers globally who registered for the PayPal X limited beta program to receive access to the initial version of Adaptive Payments. '''This is an exciting time for Australian developers that want to help shape the future of payments, and take e-commerce in Australia to the next level,''' said Spiro Rokos, Senior Manager, Developer Network at PayPal Australia.[19] Paypal is looking ever more likely to be eBay's saviour. Unlike Skype, Stumbleupon and others, Paypal is one of the only acquisitions the cash-drunk eBay made that actually dovetailed with its core business; the cash it's generating is now accelerating eBay's revenues even while the auctions business struggles to grow.'' Developers do have various beefs with Paypal in its current form, from seller protection to simplicity of use for customers. Paypal X is presumably designed to iron these out, and carry on growing eBay's revenues - we'll find out when it gets announced later today in San Francisco. It comes as Amazon is expanding its payment platform, with PayPhrase. It's a simple text field that you enter a special phrase into, something teeth-grindingly "funky" like "feisty mango", rather than your email and password; along with a four-digit PIN it links to a set of specified billing and shipping info, and you can set up different phrases for different addresses, credit cards etc. The WSJ reports on some of the suggested phrases generated by Amazon ("Ingrained Abhorrance", anyone?), while the Business Insider notes that the web stores currently partnered with Amazon for the scheme aren't exactly chasing Paypal's numbers.[20] SAN FRANCISCO (Dow Jones)--EBay Inc.' s (EBAY) PayPal unit on Tuesday launched new technology that makes it easier for third-party software developers to fold the online payments system into their own applications. The move comes as the Internet commerce giant looks to the PayPal unit to serve as a key growth driver, while eBay works to make much-needed changes to its core marketplaces business--and as PayPal faces looming competition from some of the Web's biggest names.[21] '''By opening up our platform, we hope to facilitate innovation in payments by enabling local developers to create new payment solutions for goods and services beyond traditional e-commerce. It'''s also an opportunity for developers to monetise applications they'''ve built on the back of PayPal'''s open platform.''' Among the Australian developers attending PayPal Innovate 2009 in San Francisco this week are Steven Cooper (Katmatcreations), Stu Andrews (Code Biscuit), as well as Keith Mason (ACP Magazines), who won an all expenses paid trip to the event as part of a competition last month.[19] PayPal is opening up substantial parts of its global transactional engine, extending the open platform dubbed "PayPal X," company executives announced this morning at PayPal's X Innovate 2009 developer conference in San Francisco.[16] Super Rewards will launch the virtual currency platform enhancements at PayPal's first dedicated developer conference, PayPal X Innovate 2009 on November 3-4, 2009 in San Francisco.[10] After waiting for two months for PayPal to release its much-anticipated platform, the day has finally arrived for PayPal X. ReadWriteWeb first covered the company's announcement in late July and today, at San Francisco's Concourse Exhibition Center, developers and press people waited with bated breath to see what was earlier described as a "platform as ubiquitous as the electrical outlet."[22]
First announced back in July, PayPal X features completely open APIs, meaning application developers have free reign to customize the platform before actual implementing it.[9] PayPal, which reported strong earnings recently, is hoping to engage developers in producing applications on top of PayPal's newly released API. We reported on parts of the open platform here and here. Taking the stage this morning for the keynote address is PayPal's senior director of PayPal's developer network, Naveed Anwar. He says that PayPal X, the new platform, is officially open.[5]
The APIs, technical documentation, sample applications and more are available at PayPal's X.com web site. PayPal's move to open its platform has been under way for some time, and it represents an important shift in the company's strategy. It may usher in new breeds of payment-centric applications, including ones focused on microtransactions and mobile payments.[16] '''The new APIs are very dynamic and will provide unlimited ways for third party web applications to interface with PayPal'''s new open platform.[19]
The more I read about the new APIs, the more excited I get about the opportunity and we'''re currently looking at developing a new site using Adaptive Payments.''' '''By opening up its payments platform, PayPal is providing web developers with opportunities they never had before.[19] PayPal developers and users now have access to a slew of new APIs, ranging from an extended version of the Adaptive Payments API that PayPal made available in July, to an Adaptive Accounts API designed to make it easier for people to sign up for accounts.[16] '''Storenvy is one of the first adopters of PayPal'''s new Adaptive Payments APIs, which give developers the tools to create breakthrough global payment services.'''[3]
Super Rewards integrated the Adaptive Payments APIs across the offer platform, allowing new features that deliver more choices and easier game play for consumers, while delivering another revenue stream to developers.[10]
When a customer makes a payment in the Java Store Beta, the application owner also gets paid at the time of the purchase. The developer immediately receives the revenue and knows exactly how many people have purchased their application. Microsoft Azure is also integrating PayPal's new API in its offerings.[5] PayPal also announced it will introduce new pricing early next year for payments for so-called services for which it expects developers will create applications, including rent, payroll, and government payments. The new pricing is 50 cents or 0.75% per transaction, and applies when payors use existing PayPal accounts or the automated clearing house to fund their payments.[4] The network is the platform on which the potential for digital money will be fully realized. Thompson said that there are over 78 million active PayPal accounts, and Bedier added that PayPal transactions total more than $70 billion per year, but eBay CEO John Donahoe said he expects PayPal to get much bigger, and, in fact, become much bigger than eBay is. "We believe that the Internet, and e-commerce, and online payments are still in their early days.[16] John Donahoe, chief executive of PayPal parent eBay Inc., told the audience of developers that the decision to open the PayPal platform was driven largely by the need to harness developers''' work in payments to meet eBay'''s stated goal to double PayPal'''s size over the coming three years. That work will clearly expand PayPal'''s ability to innovate, said Scott Thompson, PayPal'''s president, in a news conference later in the morning. '''What these developers are doing will supplement our R&D spend,''' he said.[4]
The conference floor was dotted with developers already showcasing new applications built on top of PayPal. That included Payvment, a company that has used the tools to create a platform that allows customers to shop across several e-commerce sites and check out in one place. It automatically and simultaneously sends the right amount of money to each of the stores. "It's more sales for them," said Christian Taylor, CEO of the Los Angeles company, "and the consumer can shop how they're used to shopping."[23]
To find out how to get your own Paypal X app you can go to www.x.com and join up with other developers and learn how to program and develop your own custom payment system. It really opens up the world of cellphones and mobile devices. It is a logical move for Paypal that should help create more online marketplaces that will make it easier for consumers to purchase items easily. This could be Paypal's answer to Google's competition, with their application data for micropayments that they are working on.[24] Any queries should be directed to the company itself. SYDNEY, 4th November 2009 ''' To mark the launch of its global open payments platform in Australia, PayPal today announced it will host the inaugural PayPal X Australian Developer Competition in February 2010.[19]
PayPal's Open X platform looks like a good move toward openness for the company as in-app payments, mobile applications that emphasize payments, microtransactions and other trends change the company's business.''[16]
Embracing a strategy popularized by Apple, eBay enlisted the aid of outside developers Tuesday in creating applications for PayPal, a move the struggling company hopes will accelerate adoption of the payment platform it.[23] PayPal and eBay executives are wrapping up their keynote presentations today at PayPal Innovate 2009, where they're offering details about how application developers can use the newly-opened PayPal platform. A lot of their rhetoric has emphasized the idea that developers form PayPal's next big set of customers (after consumers and online merchants).[25] PayPal today opens its doors to third-party software developers to use its online payments technology in everything from an application on a social network to a web-connected television set.[26] At the end of the day, you want to take advantage of that." The sold-out conference delivered on Thompson's promise two weeks earlier that "PayPal will be the first global online payment service to open its platform to everyone." The scene featured curtained meeting rooms, bean bag chairs and even classic arcade games such Asteroids, Tetris, and Pac-Man.[15] Consumers will thus be able to make faster and easier transactions. PayPal will give the users a PIN code they can use to authenticate their purchases while still inside a game. PlaySpan's Spare Change payment network will be the first product to use this service.[2] SAN FRANCISCO — PayPal has opened its software platform to outside developers in a move designed to unleash a flood of creative uses for the online financial transaction service.[15]
They're not just developing some keeping-up-with-the-Joneses iPhone app though - they're letting a whole platform loose to developers, allowing Paypal to get embedded into a wider range of sites and services. Their platform, called Paypal X, is an API that will allow developers to tailor Paypal's infrastructure for their own sites.[20] Now developers can implement a custom API app for cell phones as well as online to collect payments using the Paypal X development tools.[24]
Developers can build applications including pre-approvals, currency conversions, and pay anyone, chained payments and parallel payments. PayPal is also launching Adaptive Accounts, another API that lets developers develop applications that let users just enter their PayPal username and password.[5] PayPal also introduced Adaptive Accounts, an API that allows developers to automate the creation of PayPal accounts within applications.[4]
The new additions include APIs for currency conversion and pre-approved payments. For those who turned up in person for today's conference, the company is opening up a second set of APIs, dubbed "Adaptive Accounts," as a beta. These APIs provide a means of setting up PayPal accounts for those who don't already have them.[14] Essentially, X is a set of APIs for accessing the core PayPal payment service. Today, the company also added several new APIs to its initial collection, dubbed "Adaptive Payments Services."[14]
The new APIs tie into PayPal'''s so-called Platform X, which it unveiled at the conference.[4]
The idea is to continue expanding the X platform until, well, it does everything. During his morning keynote, eBay chief John Donahoe said - with a straight face - that he believes PayPal can power "all of ecommerce." We asked Bedier if this was a really bad idea - i.e. building a monoculture around the world's payment processing - and though he didn't quite see what our objection was, he did acknowledge that the company's dream is, shall we say, not even close to reality.[13] Just last week, the launch of PayPhrase signaled Amazon's foray into simplifying the payment process by removing the need for users to input credit card information. In light of these recent innovations from PayPal's competitors, eBay CEO John Donahoe hopes that that PayPal X will "disrupt ourselves before others disrupt us," exemplifying the company's desire to evolve with changing Web environments.[9] "Bottom line: Working together, we will drive the next wave of payment innovation," eBay chief executive John Donahoe said at the PayPal X Innovate 2009 seminar in San Francisco.[23] The company owned by online auction powerhouse eBay marked the occasion with an inaugural PayPal X Innovate conference in San Francisco.[15] INNOVATE 2009, SAN FRANCISCO ''' Nov. 3, 2009 ''' Storenvy.com, an online store system and social shopping community, launches today at the PayPal X Innovate 2009 conference.[3] Storenvy.com Launches Today: Groundbreaking Social Shopping Site Supporting Independent Merchants Storenvy.com, a free online store system and social shopping community, launches today at the PayPal X Innovate 2009 conference.[3]
According to ConnectionPoint CEO Daryl Hatton, the beauty of using PayPal X is that users never have to leave the Fundrazr page to setup a PayPal account. Charities no longer have to redirect donors to external payment sites in order to collect their donations.[17] "You see the stuff Facebook does and the stuff the community does hand-in-hand." He acknowledges that PayPal.com lacks a Facebookian "news feed," which supposedly spreads apps in no time whatsoever, but he says there are other ways to drive traffic. The larger point is that these apps will dovetail with their existing PayPal accounts. These aren't apps for just anything. They're apps for payment processing. According to Bedier, PayPal could distribute apps via an iPhone-like app store - but he won't let go of the Facebook analogy. "It's the App Store model. We'll create an app store when you can search for what you want," he says. "But it's a combination of the.[13] Payment of taxes or issuance of payroll checks will incur a flat 50-cent charge. Those fees are down from the typical PayPal rate of 1.9 to 2.9 percent, depending on volume, of the total purchase, plus 30 cents. The series of product demos and announcements, broken up by booming Black Eyed Peas tracks and awkward high fives among executives, were cheered by the receptive crowd of software engineers - especially, in an Oprah-like moment, when the attendees were informed they'd be receiving free netbooks. In many ways, eBay's approach is similar to the one Apple Inc. took with its iPhone App store. Its decision to tap into this collective wisdom of crowds spawned tens of thousands of tools whose sheer variety, creativity - and occasionally, frivolousness - could never have been matched by a single company.[23] PayPal's Developers Conference kicks off on Tuesday, and as I report in tomorrow's Newsflash, the company is opening up its platform to third-party developers to encourage innovation. I asked PayPal's Naveed Anwar what this means, exactly, since it appears to be different from the way eBay opened up its platform (eBay seller sees third-party apps when logged into eBay's Selling Manager software).[27]
Now, PayPal users can purchase products directly from the ShopSavvy application." PayPal also announced that starting in Q2 2010, it will offer pricing for developers building applications in markets that are traditionally served by cash and checks, such as rent, consulting businesses or payroll. PayPal gave away free netbook computers to all attendees and had recruiters on the show floor - it's hiring for all areas: software engineering, architecture, strategy, program management, and it's expanding at all of its U.S. offices, including those in San Jose, Maryland, Phoenix, Austin and Omaha. The excitement of today's PayPal Developers Conference reminds me of the early conferences eBay hosted for its community of users.[11] ShopSavvy, which makes apps for the iPhone and Andoid, which allows users to scan a bar code and then gives you a list of pricing of the items on different e-commerce sites. Now the app is using PayPal's API to let users buy the product they've scanned from a website (without having to go to the e-commerce site) directly from within the app. In it's own Oprah moment, PayPal announced that it was giving away netbooks to everyone in the audience of the conference. Google made a similar move at their developer conference, giving away free Android phones.[5]
With the unveiling of the APIs, which took place in San Francisco at the e-commerce processor'''s first developers''' conference in its 11-year history, developers will be able to more readily introduce applications that could, for example, convert rewards points into cash, process business-to-business payments, allow price-comparison engines to process payments, and let consumers pay each other through online-banking sites.[4] Today is the first day of PayPal's much-hyped PayPal Innovate X 2009, the payments company's first dedicated developer conference.[5] PayPal processed $70bn in payments last year, but as Bedier says, that's pocket change compared to the $30 trillion in total spending from the world's consumers. Even as the company takes it first steps towards this dream, the question on everyone's lips is "Security?" PayPal's answer is almost as simple as the question.[13] Said eBay CEO John Donohoe, "We believe that consumer behavior will change in the next three years, more than in the last ten. Think about it this way: this year: the eBay iPhone app will do $500 million dollars in volume on a device that didn't exist two years ago, on an application that didn't exist one year ago." Said Osama Bedier, PayPal's VP of Product Development, "We'll do 70 billion in sales this year, but there's $30 trillion dollars being spent globally. We need to tap into this.[22] Vice President of PayPal platforms, Osama Bedier, also takes the stage, says that PayPal will complete transactions valuing $70 billion dollars, which is pocket change compared to the $30 trillion that consumers spend globally.[5] Speaking to Digital Transactions News, Osama Bedier, vice president for the PayPal platform and product development, said the company hasn'''t fixed a date yet for the new pricing to take effect. He said whether the flat 50-cent or 0.75% fee applies will largely depend on risk. '''How do we do it without losing our shirt?''' he said.[4]
The API will be useful in cases where customers aren'''t current PayPal users, Bedier told Digital Transactions News. '''It removes a large part of the friction''' in enrolling users, Bedier said.[4]
I can't do that online". The key with micropayments is to make them a) fast and b) not feel like you're actually paying money; logging into Paypal and using one-click purchasing fills both of those criteria.'' Plus the traction Paypal already has with web users means that many won't even have to bother signing up to a new service - it looks well placed to expand into the micropayment sector, as long as its API isn't a total ballache to work with.[20] '''PayPal'''s new system offers us a lot of advantages over other online payment options,''' said Crawford. '''We can now facilitate transactions between people on different sides of the world while making sure that our merchants get their money fast.'''[3] The move should clear the way for new ways to make PayPal online transactions in televisions, touch-screen advertising, computers, mobile devices, and even "smart" appliances. "It is about how we let you do what you want to do the way you want to do it in your life," Thompson said.[15]
Ebay's Paypal has become a common place application to help in online transaction both through the popular eBay auction website as well as with e-commerce websites as well.[24]
Storenvy uses PayPal X to let shoppers to use one shopping cart and make one payment transaction, even when buying from multiple stores.[15] In-application payments, which Apple is now allowing in iPhone apps, are also a focus for the PayPal X platform.[16] '''Storenvy is a great example of how the power of PayPal X can eliminate the complexities that come with global payments,''' said Osama Bedier, PayPal'''s vice president of platform.[3] Paypal themselves are highlighting the potential for micropayments that the platform might allow - Osama Bedier, the vice president of platform, told the FT : "I can pay 10 cents for something in real life.[20]
According to Osama Bedie, vice president of platforms for PayPal, PayPal will help facilitate $70 billion worth of electronic transactions this year, a sizeable amount, but a drop in the bucket compared to the $30 trillion or so that consumers spend globally. PayPal's goal is to try and grab a larger piece of that pie, by making it easier to build in those PayPal links.[18] As eBay's core marketplace continues to leak mojo, Donahoe is banking on PayPal to pick up the slack - and then some. "I believe PayPal will be bigger than ebay because PayPal can power all of ecommerce," he said. Once again, he predicted that PayPal revenues will double over the next three years, and he's counting on third-party devs to help him actually make that happen. PayPal first announced the X platform in July, and after a limited beta, it's now open to everyone at X.com, where an PayPal predecessor first set up shop in the late 90s.[14]
E-commerce is only 15 years old, and online payments are only 10 years old," Donahoe said. He also said that "while eBay and PayPal and Skype have all enjoyed enormous success, quite frankly, beyond our business model, we've never been known as particularly innovative.[16] After dominating the online payments market for years, PayPal has seen increased competition from online retail giant Amazon and even Google.[9]
PayPal is Australia'''s preferred way to pay online when compared to other online payment systems and individual credit card brands according to Nielsen Online Consumer Report 2H 2008.[19] PayPal is the faster, safer way to pay and get paid online. The service allows members to send money without sharing financial information, with the flexibility to pay using their account balances, bank accounts, or credit cards.[19]
The San Jose online marketplace announced at a conference a set of tools necessary to build products on top of the popular service, enabling entrepreneurs and businesses to dream up their own uses and tap into the $2,000 already moving through PayPal every second.[23] The pricing is expected to be considerably more attractive for services than PayPal'''s standard fees, which range from 1.9% plus 30 cents to 2.9% plus 30 cents. It drew loud applause when announced Tuesday morning at the developers''' conference, dubbed PayPal Innovate 2009.[4]
Tables were laden with snacks ranging from energy bars to gourmet jelly beans and Twinkies. Companies that had gotten head starts on building PayPal X services into their websites showed off their creations. Andrew McPhee and Ebony Charlton traveled to the gathering from London, where they launched technology startup expensure.com ]] expensure.com as a service to help friends or flat mates divvy up shared expenses. The Web developers were sharing a flat when they devised the application.[15] PayPal is officially opening up its PayPal X platform to developers and will be presenting a roadmap for its view of the future of payments.I think this feature will increase the popularity of paypal.[22] Silicon Valley-based startup PlaySpan is already experimenting with PayPal X via a virtual goods marketplace and micropayment platform.[9]
The games are free, but users can also purchase digital goods - Farmville sells more virtual tractors than John Deere sells real ones. There is a lot of excitement around mobile and social apps, whether it's gaming, socializing, or ecommerce, and PayPal wants to be the payments engine for all of those experiences. I expect some interesting announcements coming out of the PayPal DevCon this week.[27] Naveed said that previously, everything had to be done on PayPal.com, now it can be an inline experience on the developer's website or application. He used the example of PlaySpan's Spare Change application that calls itself a "micro-payments system for social networks." Users can fund their Spare Change account with their credit card, PayPal, bank account or mobile phone. Naveed said PayPal users can add funds to their SpareChange account directly within the application experience, without having to go to the PayPal website.[27]
Acquired by PlaySpan in April 2009, Spare Change is the first and leading payments platform designed specifically for social networks. Featured on over 700 applications, across Facebook, MySpace and Bebo, Spare Change empowers developers to successfully monetize their applications through micro payments.[1] Then of course there's Facebook's nascent attempt at internet domination, with Facebook Connect and Facebook Credits. Currently accepted by basically no-one, the credits are getting talked up today in the WSJ by interactive gaming developers Playfish - because they act as virtual currency, cross-border payment problems are solved. If you're a developer wanting to start your own payment platform, think on - it's not looking like there's going to be much more market room outside of these three players. Share this post: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.[20] "We live in a time when online shopping should feel more like shopping in a real store." PayPal is following a hot Web 2.0 trend started by Facebook, which became a star after opening its software platform to allow outside developers to make fun, hip, or functional mini-applications for the social networking website.[15]
Payvment lets anyone set up e-commerce retail stores on Facebook, using PayPal's Adaptive Payments API.[5] Prior to releasing the Adaptive Payments API, it was difficult to process donations to multiple recipients at the same time due to the complexities of handling micropayments. The parallel payments functionality offered within Adaptive Payments eliminates many of the payment headaches in this area.'''[19]
Currently, the X platform offers a set of APIs known as "Adaptive Payments," providing various means of processing, yes, payments on the fly. In addition to a core "Send Money" API, this inaugural suite includes APIs for parallel payments, chained payments, pre-approved payments, currency conversion, and more.[13]
PlaySpan's patent-pending in-game virtual goods commerce and micropayment platform enables game publishers and developers to generate new revenues, acquire new users, and extend the loyalty of existing users. PlaySpan also offers global payment solutions through its subsidiary PayByCash '' with 85 payment methods in 180 countries.[1] The product enables applications and online games to turn virtual currencies into real dollars by offering users an opportunity to earn extra points or virtual dollars by participating in surveys, trials and online purchases. This turnkey solution delivers highly-targeted offers to millions of local and international social network users across multiple platforms.[10] PlaySpan's virtual goods platforms are used in more than 1,000 online games, virtual worlds and social networks. The PlaySpan-PayPal teamup makes sense. Keeping users inside an app, even when they pay for something, is becoming quite fashionable, as our story on Obopay noted last week.[2]
PlaySpan''' is the leader in monetization solutions for over 1,000 online games, virtual worlds, and social networks.[1]
Super Rewards is the largest provider of monetization solutions for online games and social networks.[10]
I think the desire to get involved with gaming and social media commerce is interesting, but I think they are coming way too late to this party. This would have been an innovative decision three years ago. Multiplayer games like Second Life and World of Warcraft generated innovative and interesting types of barter, trade and commerce, but this has been going on for a while now. I think paypal has already missed the boat on this one. [27] "Over the last two years, we've really built out all of our security models and risk models to accommodate the type of innovation that's going to happen on top of our platform," said Scott Thompson, president of PayPal. It is technically feasible to provide access to these application interfaces without making sensitive data within the system accessible, said Alan Paller, director of research at the SANS Institute, a computer security training organization. He added that programming errors are always a possibility. "I can't guarantee there won't be a problem," he said.[23] PayPal hopes the move will see it double in size over the next two years, drawing on the same community of developers that have created hundreds of thousands of applications for Apple's iPhone and Facebook in recent years.[26]
PayPal will also showcase companies in four areas: technology, financial, mobile and devices to give attendees the sense of the breadth in which PayPal can be used beyond ecommerce. eBay CEO John Donahoe, CTO Mark Carges and PayPal President Scott Thompson are set to present at the event, as well as technology publisher Tim O'Reilly and Om Malik, who will moderate a panel of venture capitalists. PayPal is moving its developers community to a new website at X.com.[12] '''PayPal's new open platform brings unprecedented power and flexibility, and opens up a whole new awesome world of possibilities for developers.[19] Previously, any customer wishing to make a PayPal purchase would need to open up a new window or navigate away from the social networking sites in order to make a PayPal purchase.[1]
More openness may also be a good answer to increasing competition from Google Checkout, Checkout from Amazon, and transactions on Facebook. It remains to be seen how open PayPal will really be with Open X, though.[16] PayPal also showed off mobile versions of the PayPal X technology, including a sample pizza app for the iPhone.[18] PayPal demonstrated a mobile payment toolkit to embed payments directly into mobile applications - starting with iPhone.[11] Since launching Google Checkout in June 2006, Google has made gradual improvements and added various features to the payment system. Most recently, Android developers have been given the option to use Checkout as the payment method for their mobile applications.[9]
"Working together, we will unleash the next wave of payments innovation," eBay chief John Donahoe told the company's inaugural developer conference in San Francisco, California.[14] PayPal moves over $2200 dollars per second. John Donahoe, eBay's CEO, takes the stage next. He says that this is an important marking point in the company's history.[5] X.com is the original site name of PayPal way before it was purchased by eBay. In those days they paid everyone $5.00 for every referral. It was great.[27] The paypal brand has been going the way of the ebay brand for some time now. The 'paypal' holds on ebay transactions have only accelerated this trend.[11]
The company has also released a limited beta of a second API suite dubbed "Adaptive Accounts" that allows for account creation. "This is a way for you to vet for certain information related to an account," Bedier explains. If you're building a payroll application, he says, these APIs would let you create accounts for users without asking them to set up their own accounts one by one. The beta is available only to those who attended today's conference. [13] As part of the announcement, vice president of platform Osama Bedier said that at some point in the unspecified future, the company would serve up APIs for plugging applications straight into PayPal.com.[13]
"You can trust us," the company keeps saying. "We've done this a long time." Bedier declined to provide any details about how the company has enhanced its security model as it opens its payment system to who knows how many developers. "If you say anything publicly, you're potentially giving the bad guys information, so why would you do it?" he tells us. "We've done this really well to date.[13] The payments business is the fastest growing part of eBay, outside of Skype, the online calling service that the company is in the process of selling all but a minority stake in.[23] EBay's core marketplace business continues to bring in the bulk of the company's revenue, at $1.4 billion last quarter, but that part of the business has been shrinking in recent quarters. The company is pursuing a wide-ranging turnaround strategy aimed at moving beyond its roots as the online auction pioneer. That business has been in decline for years as consumers increasingly turned to standard, fixed-price retailers online.[23]
During the third quarter, PayPal contributed $688.1 million, or more than 30 percent, of the total revenue, up 15 percent from a year ago.[23]
I've had more sales then Fred, and I've lost twice to paypal aided & abetted theft. Those 2 were both preventable if only Paypal had any customer service. I never ever had any kind of fraud issues in 25 years mail order until I was forced to accept this unsafe payment method.[27] Payvment, a shopping cart web service that we wrote about here, is using PayPal's API on Facebook.[5] Using the new APIs, I can put my imagination to work to create solutions that allow people to transact money across the world, and leverage the enormous trust in PayPal'''s brand.'''[19] PayPal executives didn't describe the APIs in detail, although PayPal's conference covering the technologies is scheduled to last through Wednesday.[18] At the end of the keynotes, PayPal announced a particularly generous form of customer appreciation all conference attendees would receive free netbook computers.[25]
No longer will users have to be forwarded to a PayPal site and sign-in to verify payments.[9] During a demo at the conference, one developer showed off ShopSavvy, which allows users to scan a product barcodes at a retail store and find the best prices available online and at local retail stores. "Previously, if a user found the best price at an online retailer, they would have to go to that retailer's Web site to complete the purchase.[11] The company will be onsite at the event and available to talk to any game developers interested in finding out how the Super Rewards offer management platform can increase user engagement while driving significant revenue to the developer.[10] PayPal has been the subject of security breaches and phishing schemes in the past, but the company insists the developer tools don't create additional dangers.[23] The "X factor," as PayPal president Scott Thompson, was the developer community.[18] Naveed Anwar, senior director of the PayPal developer network, put it a bit differently. "Let's get this party started," he bellowed - fists clinched.[14]
"I believe that PayPal can be bigger than eBay because PayPal is all about online commerce," Donahoe said.[18] No. They've become so like ebay now that they could care less whether existing functionalities function properly or not. Like ebafia, they thumb their growing nose at the rule of law. PayPal MUST BE REQUIRED to operate in this country under banking regulations because they've far transcended being a money facilitator or whatever fiction they call themselves.[27] I would have to agree with the posters on an earlier thread - that Paypal needs to be regulated like a bank and they should follow banking regulations with government oversight. IMO, it cannot continue to operate the way that it does currently - seemingly arbitrarily deciding when to give people access to their own money and when to deny access.[11] Legitimate complaints that can be documented are taken very seriously and acted upon. If paypal is not licensed in your state contact your state representative and ask that paypal be required to be licensed as a money transmitter or laws be introduced to offer consumer protection against the way their money is handled. Much is swept under the rug to avoid any negative impact to their corporate image.[27]
The PayPal site gets about 30 million visitors a month, according to Bedier. "It's where people keep their money," he tells The Reg. "They like to go and look at it."[13] PayPal should be bigger than eBay, because auction sites are only one place that people shop.[5] PayPal is also seeing adoption across social networking sites growing 20 percent, month over month.[5]
PayPal should at least spend one year FIXING their constant error prone platform and bring their policies into compliance with banking laws in the various countries in which they operate.[27] I am amazed at how many young business people typically ask to be paid via PayPal, even when billing for a non-online service. If and when they all wake up, their profit picture might change.[5] When one of my vendors suggested that I pay him via PayPal rather than mailing a check, I reminded him that PayPal takes 8% off the top and holds his money for 5 days. "Oh yea, I guess that's true," he replied.[5] "The big claim to fame is we made things very easy if you want to pay for things online," PayPal president Scott Thompson told AFP.[15] Hey Navid, is paypal going to switch the user funding choices here too? Like when you say pay by credit card & they deduct funds from your bank, causing you overdrafts & fees? Scummy thing to do, and not allowed under PP's merchant agreements, but they do it everyday.[27]
There are more than 78 million active PayPal account in nearly 200 international markets.[5]
EBay's future "is being staked on the ability to have 5 million heads do more than what five alone can do," said Edward Kountz, senior analyst with Forrester Research. What it ultimately means for the business itself remains to be seen, however, as it's likely to produce far more duds than breakout apps. "The challenge of it is connecting the right developer to the right application in the right environment," he said. [23] The APIs will be housed at X.com, a development Web site first registered by eBay in 1999.[18] By opening up the API, eBay can allow others to drive the technology forward, eBay chief executive John Donahoe said. "Historically we've had gigantic global platforms, and we've done the developmnet work on these technologies," Donahoe said.[18]
The API will change where and how people can make payments, how recipients get compensated, and more.[1] The functionality really is going to change the way we pay and open up a whole new world of e-commerce.[19] The result will make it easier for consumers to pay for virtual goods from better weapons to fancy clothing in online games.[2] The ULTIMATE GAME CARD '' is used by consumers to pay for 300 multiplayer games and around 700 games on popular social networking sites. It is available in about 45,000 retail locations across North America and growing rapidly worldwide.[1]
Separately, the company said it is lowering the cost of certain transactions in a bid to capture a greater share of payments now being made by checks and cash. [23] It's interesting and exciting to see so much attention being paid to developers in the payment space. In a way its amazing how deceptively complicated billing still is.[5]
Storenvy store owners are encouraged to use the company's printing services when needed, but are not required to do so.'' Storenvy helps shoppers give back by incorporating a feature called "Give at Checkout" by MissionFish, where purchasers can opt to add $1 or more to their order to support charities selected by Storenvy. [3]
SOURCES
1. PlaySpan Launches In-App PayPal Payments Experience at PayPal X Innovate 2009
2. PlaySpan teams up with PayPal to make game payments easier | VentureBeat
3. Storenvy.com Launches Today: Groundbreaking Social Shopping Site Supporting Independent Merchants
4. News
5. eBay CEO Still More Bullish On PayPal Than eBay
6. Five new currencies for PayPal system | Dynamic Export
7. PayPal Woos Developers in Bid to Protect Its Turf - WSJ.com
8. PayPal X To Allow In-App Payments - AppScout
9. VatorNews - PayPal launches open payments system
10. Super Rewards Launches New Virtual Currency Offer Platform Enhancements
11. PayPal Mania Leads to Talk of eBay Corporate Name Change
12. PayPal Opens Platform to Target $30 Trillion Opportunity at DevCon
13. PayPal to embed X apps in self ''' The Register
14. PayPay opens 'embed everywhere' APIs to world+dog ''' The Register
15. AFP: PayPal courts outside developers
16. PayPal's (Partially) Open Platform to Usher in New Payment Models Apps
17. Fundrazr: PayPal's Adaptive Account and Payment APIs Realized - ReadWriteStart
18. PayPal Opens Payments API with PayPal X - Reviews by PC Magazine
19. PayPal Australia to launch First PayPal X Developer Competition - Computerworld
20. BAD IDEA magazine | PayPal Fights Amazon And Facebook With "Paypal X"
21. UPDATE: EBay's PayPal Launches Open Payments System - WSJ.com
22. PayPal's X: A Platform to Pick Your Pocket
23. PayPal looks for developers' applications
24. Paypal X New way for API Developers to use Online Payment System | Best Syndication
25. PayPal loves developers so much, it's giving them free netbooks | VentureBeat
26. FT.com / UK - PayPal adopts innovative path to growth
27. Is PayPal Getting into Virtual Currency?
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