Google gets Lift in Test of its New Pay Service

by Mike Bevel CollectionIndustry.com

Google rolled out its new product, Google Checkout, last month. Google Checkout stores users’ financial information and quickly shuttles them through checkout at retail sites.

Online shopping has become riskier. The threat of identity theft often escalates into a grim reality for more and more web users who have their online information stolen or tampered with. Google Checkout hopes to be an option that provides a layer of protection to online customers by functioning as a virtual wallet. This cuts down on the number of places users would have to share their credit card and other personal information ? which could prove a boon in decreasing online identity theft.

Google?s new product is a direct threat to both PayPal and eBay (who owns PayPal). The New York Times is offering a fairly in-depth look at Google Checkout and the effect it will likely have on the online retailing community in general.