EBay buys BillSafe for 'purchase-on-invoice' technology

EBay has purchased German vendor BillSafe to complement its PayPal online payment system, the company announced Thursday. Terms were not disclosed.

BillSafe offers "purchase-on-invoice" capabilities, which allows shoppers to choose items, receive them, and then get a bill for payment later. EBay had taken a minority stake in the company in October 2010.

Purchase-on-invoice is extremely popular in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Netherlands, and in Germany alone, eBay has 15 million accounts, the company said.

"One of PayPal's greatest assets is the security of our system, and we're glad that we can now offer customers even more peace of mind with a payment method that they already know and prefer and that drives more sales for the merchants," Arnulf Keese, managing director of PayPal Germany, said in a statement.

Other companies offering purchase-on-invoice technology include Billpay.

EBay's BillSafe acquisition will also complement its Bill Me Later PayPal service, a line of credit that allows customers to pay for purchases in installments if they desire, albeit while incurring interest.

Chris Kanaracus covers enterprise software and general technology breaking news for The IDG News Service. Chris's e-mail address is Chris_Kanaracus@idg.com

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