PayPal is an online payments and money transfer service that allows you to send money via email, phone, text message or Skype. They offer products to both individuals and businesses alike, including online vendors, auction sites and corporate users. PayPal connects effortlessly to bank accounts and credit cards.

PayPal created the Gausebeck-Levchin test, which is that blurry box of letters and numbers you have to fill out before completing most online transactions. They created it in the early days to help prevent unauthorized access by automated systems.

When eBay acquired PayPal in October 2002, eBay already had an online payment system of choice called Billpoint. Billpoint was quickly phased out due to PayPal’s popularity, branding and technology.PayPal allows any business or consumer with an email address to securely, conveniently and cost-effectively send and receive payments online. Our network builds on the existing financial infrastructure of bank accounts and credit cards to create a global, real-time payment solution. We deliver a product ideally suited for small businesses, online merchants, individuals and others currently underserved by traditional payment mechanisms.

The size of our network and widening acceptance of our product have helped us become one of the leading payment networks for online auction websites, including eBay. PayPal is also being increasingly used at other e-commerce sites for the sale of goods such as electronics and household items, the sale of services such as web design and travel, and the sale of digital content. Offline businesses, including lawyers, contractors and physicians, have increasingly begun to receive payments online through PayPal. PayPal’s service, which lets users send payments for free, can be used from PCs or web-enabled mobile phones.

PayPal Mobile is one of PayPal’s newest products. It allows you to send payments by text message or by using PayPal’s mobile browser.