With “bump” users can put two iPhones together, and funds are quickly transferred between their PayPal accounts. The Split Check feature lets users conveniently divide and quickly reimburse each other for the cost of a meal, including a tip, for up to 20 people. Collect Money allows users to request money from multiple people for a joint gift, concert tickets, and more. Users can send gifts of money on the spot for birthdays, anniversaries or any moment of impulsive generosity.

The new Send Money app comes at a time when smartphone sales have surpassed 172.4 million units in 2009*, and consumers worldwide are expected to spend $119 billion** by 2015 through their mobile phones.  PayPal mobile transactions have increased nearly six-fold, from $25 million in 2008 to $141 million in 2009.

“Today, you leave the house with three critical things: your phone, your wallet and your keys,” said Frerk-Malte Feller, managing director, PayPal Australia. “PayPal Send Money lets consumers access their wallets through their phones. Because with PayPal, the wallet lives in the cloud – the mobile phone is just one device customers can use to access it.”

With the new PayPal Send Money app, users can set reminders for recurring payments, donate money to their favourite causes, and manage their PayPal accounts — all from the iPhone. For international transactions, it also features a global currency calculator and 15 languages.  PayPal Send Money requires a PIN or password for every transaction to help prevent unauthorised use.

The application is now available to download for free at the Apple iTunes store online or the Apple App Store from any iPhone or iPod Touch.

For more information, visit www.PayPal.com/mobile.

“I am delighted to be joining the Australian team to provide strategic direction at a time when there is great demand for PayPal to help grow online shopping in Australia,” said Malte.  “My main priority is to continue to provide PayPal’s more than five million Australian customer accounts and 18,000 merchant partners with a secure and innovative online payments solution to facilitate safe, global e-commerce.”

Malte takes over the role from Dinuke Ranasinghe, acting managing director since March 2009.  Dinuke was PayPal Australia’s first employee and has now moved into a regional role as head of product for Asia-Pacific.  He will be based in Singapore.

“The fact that PayPal is Australia’s favourite way to pay online is a tribute to the success and hard work of Dinuke and my predecessors in building a strong Australian business,” said Malte.  “I look forward to building upon this with my team, especially as more Australians look to shop online safely, including via their smart phones.  More Australian businesses are also considering their online strategy to drive growth into local and international marketplaces, and this provides an exciting opportunity for us.”

Malte is taking charge of PayPal at a time when it is the most preferred online payment service with Australians when compared to other online payment systems and individual credit card brands, according to Nielsen research[1].

Malte originally joined the eBay group of companies in 1999.  Prior to joining PayPal Australia, he was managing director for eBay Germany, and a member of the European Leadership Team.

Between 2004 and 2008, Malte was managing director of PayPal Germany, Austria and Switzerland, during which time he launched PayPal in these markets.  By the end of his tenure, PayPal was considered the leading German online payments service serving more than seven million accounts at the time.

[1] Nielsen, June 2009: ‘Consumer Report 1H2009: Profiling online and mobile commerce activities in Australia’

MEDIA RELEASE – Although Australian bricks and mortar retailers have been slow to expand online, they have a distinct advantage over web-only retailers, according to the Executive Director of Salmat Digital, Paul Marshall.

In his presentation to the Online Retailer conference in Sydney today, Paul said that brand awareness, loyalty and an existing customer base are key assets when Bricks and Mortar retailers take their business online. Combine that with the power of the store network to give their customers a true multichannel shopping choice and they have a strong playing hand.

“Despite being slow to adopt eCommerce, the history and level of trust retailers have built with their customers will pay major dividends when they expand online, Paul said.

“Data from the US shows that consumers of multichannel retailers, or retailers with both a physical and online presence, are proven to be more loyal, buy more per visit, and have a higher lifetime value.

“According to the US Internet Retailer website, of the top 100 online retailers in the US, Bricks and Mortar retailers make up the largest segment (circa 44%) and are also the fastest growing segment over web-only retailers, mail-order retailers and manufacturers. Fast movers include Costco, Wal-Mart, Sears, and Best-Buy.”

“This shows that despite a slow entry, the bricks and mortar retailers are in a strong position to succeed in selling online. They can easily play catch up and overtake web-only retailers.”

In his presentation, Paul emphasised to retailers the importance of laying the right foundations, rather than rushing into an ill-thought out online strategy.

“Success in multichannel retailing is a marathon not a sprint. Making sure your house is in order is essential, develop the right strategy and invest where it matters.”

In 2009, eCommerce in Australia is expected to generate around $18 billion in sales.

The new partner programme supports partners that offer PayPal-enabled solutions via revenue-share opportunities, referral incentives and a certification programme. Partners can also access the latest PayPal marketing, product and educational resources via the new PayPal partner portal www.paypal.com.au/partnerprogram.

“Our partners’ success contributes to PayPal’s success so we’ve launched this programme to deliver more value to the partner community,” said Glenn Lim, PayPal’s general manager of global alliances and vertical markets.

“We want to reward partners while giving them more resources and incentives to grow their business on the back of the PayPal payments platform.” To qualify for the programme, solution providers must integrate PayPal as a key component of their e-commerce or web solution to deliver online payments functionality for their business customers such as online retailers. Partner status, and the corresponding revenue-share opportunity, is determined by the total volume of payments processed via a partner’s PayPal-enabled solution by their respective customers. The higher the volume of payment transactions processed using a partner’s PayPal-enabled solution, the greater the amount of revenue-share the partner stands to gain.

To claim financial incentives, partners must certify their PayPal-enabled solution. PayPal Certified Integration verifies that a partner’s e-commerce solution has met PayPal’s stringent integration criteria to ensure an optimal customer experience, allowing partners to differentiate their products in the marketplace.

Existing as well as new PayPal partners can enrol in the programme for free via the new partner portal at www.paypal.com.au/partnerprogram. Partners new to PayPal can enrol for basic membership while established partners that are already offering PayPal-enabled solutions can qualify for gold and platinum partner status.

“By joining the partner programme, every single partner is eligible for financial incentives and can benefit from PayPal resources and support,” said Lim.

Earlier this month, PayPal also launched an Australian developer programme to enable the local developer community to take advantage of the growing demand for online payments among businesses.

About PayPal

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, credit cards or promotional financing. With more than 73 million active accounts in 190 markets and 19 currencies around the world, PayPal enables global ecommerce. PayPal is an eBay company and is made up of three leading online payment services: the PayPal global payments platform, the Payflow Gateway, and Bill Me Later* (*not yet available in Australia). PayPal Australia Pty Ltd has a Financial Services Licence. This is intended as a referral program for partners and incentives are based on referrals made. More information about the company, including the Product Disclosure Statement, can be found at www.paypal.com.au.

The post by Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh is here. In a letter to employees he writes:

We plan to continue to run Zappos the way we have always run Zappos — continuing to do what we believe is best for our brand, our culture, and our business. From a practical point of view, it will be as if we are switching out our current shareholders and board of directors for a new one, even though the technical legal structure may be different.

Video from Jeff Bezos about Amazon and Zappos

A recent post on the WebHostingTalk forums includes a letter from the CEO of Payovation, who managed to aquire the assets of Intabill just before it entered administration.

July 10, 2009

Dear Merchant,

You may have recently read or heard that Intabill has entered into voluntary liquidation or administration.

I am pleased to inform you that on July 7 2009, prior to Intabill entering into administration, Payovation purchased all core Intellectual Property from Intabill, allowing for a smooth and seamless transition of their processing platform and all merchant accounts into our care and control.

Payovation is an international payment gateway and processor, providing highly reliable merchant services to merchants around the world.

Payovation brings an experienced team of senior management with many years of processing experience to ensure a smooth, seamless and profitable future for all of its clients and customers. Please be assured that your existing Intabill merchant account will continue to operate under Payovation without interruption or change.

Existing Intabill merchant accounts will remain on the same processing platform which is now being run by Payovation. A Payovation representative will be in touch with you in the coming days to answer any questions or queries you may have, however in the interim please find below some questions and answers related to this change in ownership and servicing. The experienced team here at Payovation looks forward to providing you with a reliable processing solution you can depend on.

Yours sincerely,

Michael

Michael Hui
Chief Executive Officer
Payovation

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
FAQS

Q: Will I receive rolling reserve payouts owed to me from Intabill?
If you had a live active merchant account with Intabill, your reserve will be transferred over to Payovation.

Q: What happens to my current processing funds?
All funds recently processed by Intabill have been transferred to Payovation. You will continue to receive all payments owed to you on the same settlement schedule as you had with Intabill.

Q: When will my settlements occur?
Payovation will maintain your settlements on the same schedule you had with Intabill.

Q: Will I need to reintegrate with Payovation?
At the present moment we do not foresee a need to reintegrate merchant accounts, as Payovation has acquired the processing systems and intellectual property formerly used by Intabill.

From 10 September all store listings will have increased exposure as they will appear within the main eBay search results.  This will provide sellers with increased exposure on search results pages, however eBay is also introducing monthly store fees, ranging from $19.95 to $499 per month.

eBay Australia managing director Deborah Sharkey said that 50 per cent of eBay’s global sales were now fixed price and that, in the March quarter, such sales grew by 12 per cent globally while auction sales declined.

“Buyers are telling us that they want the same convenience and immediacy of payment on eBay as they get in their favourite department store,” she said.

For detailed information and explanations of all the changes, visit eBay’s “The Big News” page.

IT News and eCommerce Report have reported on the launch of the Australian PayPal developer program.  It’s the first market outside of the United States to be included in the developer program.

The program includes free technical tools and resources, PayPal developer certification and  developer days to be held in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth later this month.

Spiro Rokos, PayPal’s senior manager of technical engineering, said it would help Australians tap into revenue opportunities.

He said the program was designed “to help organisations outside of the retail sector, including non-profits, education and local government, take advantage of e-commerce”.

For more information on the PayPal developer days, visit:
https://www.paypal-education.com.au/devdays/

You can also follow PayPal Australia on Twitter:
http://twitter.com/PayPalAustralia

MIS

The company upgraded it’s 500 stores to a wide-area network to assist with real-time information transfer between stores.

“Not a week goes by without us receiving emails from people asking when they will be able to buy from us online, so we are very keen to get back into the space,” Ms Ryan, Colorado Group’s chief information officer said.

Read the full article at MIS Australia