iPhone and iPod touch users can already buy third-party products within applications using iTunes accounts. However, according to these rumours, the new scheme will open the door for other companies outside the store ecosystem to use iTunes as their payment gate for whatever goods or services they may sell.

It makes sense, as people are used to pay with iTunes one-click system—which is licensed from Amazon—anyway. Why not extend to participating companies and make an easy dollar? We will see if the gossip is true or not soon enough. [Silicon Alley Insider]

Vodafone introduces mobile prepaid recharge with PayPal

Vodafone prepaid customers are the first in Australia to enjoy the convenience of PayPal mobile recharge capabilities.

“Mobiles have come a long way in a short time,” said Russell Hewitt, CEO at Vodafone Australia. “Now, Vodafone is harnessing the capabilities of mobiles to make life even easier for our customers. Australians are highly mobile and they often need to recharge on the move, so we’ve made that possible today.”

“This is great news for Vodafone customers and is a perfect solution that is specifically designed to support mobile communications products and services,” added Hewitt.

Vodafone prepaid customers simply register for a PayPal account online and select from either direct debit or credit card payment. Once the PayPal account is activated, customers can recharge their Vodafone Prepaid Cap or Extras Pack directly from their mobile phone via the Vodafone live! mobile content portal.

The PayPal payment engine authenticates the customer’s identity with a unique user name and password. At the completion of the transaction, the customer receives a recharge PIN via SMS or email, with the prepaid credit redeemed with a free call to 1555.

Vodafone is the first company in Australia to offer mobile recharge services, and only the second company in the world to introduce PayPal mobile recharge, following a similar launch by Vodafone Italy in August.

PayPal Australia’s Managing Director, Andrew Pipolo, said: “Not only is the process more convenient, it’s also very secure because PayPal never shares customers’ financial information.”

Vodafone prepaid customers can fund their PayPal transaction from their bank account, credit card, debit card or via their PayPal account balance.

[Vodafone]

It’s been a long and bloody battle, including companies like the Reserve Bank, Google and hundreds of eBay sellers all voicing their outrage that eBay could even attempt to restrict payment options in the name of “security”. In the end, the ACCC’s pre-announcement that it thought eBay were full of shit going to be anti-competitive with their Paypal-only move was enough for eBay to go back on their decision and pretend it never happened.

Their official statement, posted on their website, runs a bit like this:

eBay has withdrawn its notification to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) about removing other payment methods. Instead eBay will continue to allow all existing payment methods on eBay.com.au.

We have decided to withdraw the notification to stop any further confusion and disruption among the eBay Community.

eBay regrets any uncertainty that this process has caused among the Community and believe that today’s decision will remove further doubt.

eBay’s goal has always been to provide members with a safer experience. Under the current circumstances, we will continue to look for ways to do that while still offering a variety of payment choices.

eBay requires all sellers to offer PayPal as a payment choice on eBay.com.au along with other permitted payment methods of their choosing.

Although we have decided not to move ahead with the further planned changes, eBay is pleased that all buyers can now choose PayPal along with other permitted payment methods of their choice.

Other recently introduced safety measures, such as PayPal Seller Protection and increased PayPal Buyer Protection (now up to $20,000) will also remain.

Regards,
The eBay team

It’s not all defeat for the online auction site though – sellers are still required to include Paypal as a selling option, which means they stand to boost their profits a little bit more anyway. The fact is, Paypal is good for buyers – it’s the sellers who have to pay the extra fees. It’s even better for buyers now, as they have a $20,000 protection program in place.

In any case, you can still chalk this one up as a win for the little guy. And when the big guy is a large international corporate giant and the little guy is you, that’s a pretty big win.

[ebay]

The loophole involved the tiny payments that online payment services and brokerages send to new user accounts to verify that they’re real. While getting four cents from PayPal might not seem like a big deal to you, Michael Largent decided to create a script to automatically open 58,000 of these accounts. Unfortunately for him, the companies caught on to his scheme and he’s currently out on bail on charges of wire, bank and mail fraud.

The funny thing is, he’s not in trouble for taking the money. It was being given out freely, after all. He’s in trouble for using fake names and social security numbers to open the accounts.

If only Milton would go burn down the Googleplex in retaliation for Sergey Brin taking his stapler, destroying the evidence of your crime, you could escape these charges! [PC Pro via Slashdot]

Competition in this area can only be a good thing, especially with all the efforts ebay’s had recently to drive away sellers. But the question is: will the Trading Posts’s online auctions be good enough to draw users away from ebay? Or are we looking at another Sensis search situation here? Tell us your thoughts in comments.

The full press release, for those of you who get off on that kind of thing (you know who you are):

Trading Post® weighs into Online Auctions

27th May 2008

Sensis and its iconic Trading Post® business have weighed-in to the
local online auction market with the launch of auctions on the new
www.tradingpost.com.au website.

The move, a major part of Sensis’ strategy to capitalise on the
booming online growth of Trading Post®, is one of the most significant
developments in Trading Post®’s 40 year history.

Launching the new website and auction capability, Sensis CEO, Bruce
Akhurst said the Aussie icon Australians have loved buying and selling
with for decades was entering an exciting new era.

“Introducing auctions opens up enormous opportunities for us to
accelerate our growth online and capture a significant new market of
buyers and sellers.

“On top of the 2 million people that already use
www.tradingpost.com.au each month, there are an additional 3.4 million
Australians using online auctions that are not currently using Trading
Post®.¹

“And while auctions have only just started on tradingpost.com.au,
our aim is to build up the number of items available and become
Australia’s favourite place to buy and sell,” he said.

Mr Akhurst said the investment in the Trading Post® website was an
important part of the business’ continued focus to provide its products
over multiple-platforms.

“Sensis has taken decisive steps to return our classifieds business
to growth. This includes successfully reducing the rate of decline in
the circulation of our print publication, strengthening our online
product and plans to further grow our presence in mobile.

“Through this investment in www.tradingpost.com.au, we are creating
a new wave of growth for Trading Post® through a completely new revenue
stream,” Mr Akhurst said.

The Trading Post®’s announcement comes at a time when Australian
sellers are up in arms following eBay’s decision to force sellers to
use its own payment service PayPal and as a result, pay higher selling
fees.

“Trading Post®’s new website and auctions means we now offer a
strong local alternative to eBay – one that lets you choose payment
options and provides terrific value for money,” Mr Akhurst said.

“Australian businesses that make their living trading online are
screaming out for a way to trade online in which they have more control
over how they do business.

“Trading Post® has been listening closely and is now providing
auctions with a broad range of payment options for sellers to choose
from. We’ve also made it easier to register, buy, sell, navigate,
search and compare products online,” he said.

Mr Akhurst’s comments were supported by a Newspoll survey that
confirmed 93 per cent of online sellers and 95 per cent of online
buyers said it was important to have a choice of payment options when
trading online.

President of Australia’s Professional eBay Sellers Alliance, Phil
Leahy, said he was pleased Trading Post® is providing a new platform
that includes auctions and offers Australian sellers a viable
alternative.

“Our members are in the business of trading online and anything
Trading Post® can do to help competition by providing a more flexible
environment and more affordable alternative, we support,” he said.

Mr Akhurst said to successfully compete in the online auction market, Trading Post® needed to offer something different.

“As well as providing sellers with a choice of payment options, one
of Trading Post®’s main points of difference is it is free to list your
items for sale. This means you only pay a fee if you sell your item.”

Mr Akhurst said Trading Post® was also focussed on providing
personalised customer support by phone and email and a security program
to verify the identity of online traders.

“Buying and selling online should be easy, fast and efficient and so
should getting answers to any questions you may have along the way.
That’s why Trading Post® has a dedicated Australian-based customer
support team to help buyers and sellers with queries seven days a week.

“Through our research, we know security is important for many people
trading online. Trading Post® supports this by requiring people to
supply an Australian address to register on our site. Furthermore, our
Verified Trader program provides buyers and sellers the opportunity to
verify themselves through a free 100-point identity check with
Australia Post. That way we can provide people with more confidence
they are buying or selling with someone based in Australia,” said Mr
Akhurst.

In developing the new website and its auction capability, Mr Akhurst
said the business closely studied markets around the world and looked
carefully for the right technology partners.

“We scoured the globe conducting research, market analysis and
talking to the best technology providers. The end result is our
partnership with Intershop, FAST and Satyam to deliver best-in-breed
technology for tradingpost.com.au, similar to that employed by global
IT leaders Hewlett Packard and Sun Microsystems, Mr Akhurst said.

Usage of www.tradingpost.com.au has increased by a compound annual
growth rate of 33 per cent over the three years to July 2007. In March
2008, the site reached 2 million unique visitors for the first time.
The Trading Post® newspaper, which comes out every Thursday, is read by
725,000 people each week.

¹Roy Morgan Single Source Australia, Jan – Dec 2007, base: Australians 14+

About Sensis

Sensis
is Australia’s leading information resource. Sensis’ popular
information services make complex lives simpler by helping Australians
find, buy and sell. These services include Yellow™, White Pages®,
Trading Post®, CitySearch®, UBD®, Gregory’s® and Whereis®. Sensis
provides advertising services to 420,000 Australian businesses, of
which 90 per cent are SMEs.

® Registered trade mark of
Telstra Corporation Limited (ABN 33 051 775 556). Sensis Pty Ltd (ABN
30 007 423 912) has responsibility for Production of Yellow™ and White
Pages® directories and related products on behalf of Telstra
Corporation Limited.

[Sensis via ITWire]