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eBay and Visa Announce Person-to-Person Payment Partnership
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 eBay Inc. and Visa U.S.A. today announced a marketing agreement that will visibly promote Visa as a primary payment option on eBay. Through eBay's payment subsidiary, Billpoint, eBay sellers can now easily and securely accept Visa payments literally within minutes of enrollment. To help build card usage across eBay's 10 million registered users, Billpoint will waive all payment processing fees for Visa transactions closed on its system through the end of May. As part of the agreement, Visa will use its extensive marketing and promotional expertise to help build awareness within and outside the eBay community. ``Teaming with the world's most recognized payment brand has enormous value,'' said Janet Crane, CEO of Billpoint, Inc. ``This powerful marketing alliance offers individual eBay buyers and sellers a new world of payment simplicity, convenience, and security. With Visa and the many upcoming exciting joint promotions, person-to-person trading on eBay just got even easier.'' The partnership -- which officially begins April 10, 2000 -- stems from the overwhelming demand for credit card acceptance on eBay. To date, the vast majority of the $4 billion in gross merchandise sales transacted through eBay involve payment by check and money order. ``As the leader in online payment, Visa and its member banks have contributed to explosive growth in e-commerce,'' said Bond Isaacson, executive vice president of Visa U.S.A. and head of the company's e-Visa unit. ``The trust that consumers have in the Visa brand will enable us to enter new markets like the person-to-person environment and provide e-Bay's online shoppers with the most convenient way to pay for everything from beanie babies to Elvis records.'' Billpoint began its rollout to eBay sellers on March 1st, 2000. The service will be available to the entire eBay seller community over the next several weeks. Bidders can already use Billpoint to quickly and safely pay for their winning auctions. As part of this program, an Olympics sweepstakes is planned for April of this year. By using their Visa cards to conduct online transactions on eBay, a buyer or a seller will have the opportunity to win a vacation package for two to attend the 2000 Sydney Olympics. [Updated 3/29/2000]
  
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