PayPal announced that it is opening an API to developers to allow them to embed PayPal’s payment system into their own apps and platforms. The company, a subsidiary of eBay, says this is the first global payment platform to open to third-party developers.

PayPal requires reserves for a percentage of sellers. That percentage is less than 1% according to the company. PayPal likens the reserves to a security deposit to cover future chargebacks and reversals.

Since PayPal began this practice, they have had a lot of questions about it from sellers, and hoping to clear up some confusion, Bill Clark, an analyst with PayPal’s risk team offered the following explanation on the PayPal Blog:

Facebook will reportedly begin testing a payments system in the coming weeks. This will start with a few developers, exploring ways for users to use Facebook credits with third-party apps on Facebook.

Google has introduced a new feature for AdWords called "Make a Payment," which allows users to initiate a credit card payment for any amount they want, when it’s convenient for them. The feature allows for overpaying to cover future costs as well.

This latest addition to an infrastructure lineup of S3 and EC2 (data storage/transfer and distributed computing, respectively) enhances Amazon’s strength as a powerful destination for developers.

It took a long time for Debi Jones to receive her payment from Google AdSense, and when the check finally arrived, it bounced (according to a bank teller to whom Jones spoke).  This created a bit of a circus; Matt Cutts himself got involved.  And now the whole situation’s been resolved.

From time to time, I like to mention Google’s market cap (currently at $173 billion), but it’s especially relevant to this story.  After all, if even little old me has never bounced a check, how did search giant Google manage to do so?

Yahoo and eBay announced the Yahoo PayPal Checkout Program, which users of Yahoo Search will encounter as little blue shopping cart icons in the search results.

Accepting electronic payments is essential to an ebusiness. The UK is Europe’s largest ecommerce economy with 27.7 million UK having shopped online- and it is growing fast.

Do you really need a merchant account?

If Yahoo Japan’s most recent attempt at starting a joint venture and taking a position in an online bank succeeds, it could be a testing ground for establishing an online payment service.

A sudden change in eBay’s payment policy has many wondering if this is a preemptive move in preparation of the rumored Google Purchase, which could offer some serious competition to PayPal. Conspiracy theories and lots of between the line eyeballing are rampant, even if eBay insists the changes are to enhance protection for buyers.

Once you decide which products you are planning to sell on the Internet, and what type of web store you are going to use in order to display your products, next vital decision that you have to take is to figure out how your customers are going to pay you. Whatever you plan to sell online, accepting credit card transaction is a must! A full 90 percent of all online sales occur through credit card payments.

Sam Sugar asks Google to allow the adult entertainment industry to use its upcoming transaction service, which he argues would bring stability and safety to the online porn industry, and give Google a huge edge over PayPal.

The board of the Screen Actors Guild overruled its membership and rejected a recently approved contract.

After my two-part article about selling things on your website, I had several people ask for more details on billing companies and shopping carts. So here goes.

If you are selling goods or services, software or other stuff you need to arrange online payment mechanism for your customers.

I’m going to show you how to quickly get set up to automatically accept credit card purchases on your site. In addition, I’ll also be discussing the benefits of accepting:

If you want to sell online, you need to be able to accept credit card payments. The traditional way is to open a merchant account. However, opening a merchant account is expensive, especially for small businesses who are just starting.

Benevolence, good will and philanthropy are honorable principles to adhere to and run by, but when bills start amassing, a charitable organization will not be excused from payment despite its inherent noble ideals and objectives.

As a nation, we have always derived great benefit from the charitable impulses of philanthropists – individuals who felt a strong sense of obligation to their fellow man, sharing their financial resources in an all-out effort to help others. During times of tragedy, such as the September 11th incident, charitable giving notably increases to help assuage our collective suffering.