Google checkout was an online payment system offered by Google Inc. between 2006 and 2013. Customers with a valid Google account could pay at certain online stores without having to enter their credit card details each time they logged in.
Development
The Google Checkout service was introduced in the United States in June 2006. It can be assumed that Google wanted to counter its competitor eBay with its online payment service PayPal, which had entered the payment processor business a few years earlier. In April 2007, Google Checkout was also introduced in the UK.
Initially, participating online merchants had the service available to them for free. But three years after the introduction, Google demanded 20 cents and a commission of two percent per transaction that was carried out through Google's payment service in the United States. In the UK, the merchant was charged a commission of 1.4% and 20 cents for each sale through the payment system. Google AdWords customers incur lower transaction costs if they are also merchants with the Google service.
At the same time as normal payment processing, Google offered a way to collect donations using Google Checkout No additional charges for non-profit institutions. Its direct competitor, eBay, which has its own PayPal payment service, excluded Google Checkout from its payment methods as of 2011. Google Checkout was adjusted and integrated into the Google Wallet system in November 2013.[1]
How does it work
To use Google Checkout, you must first create a Google account and then enter your credit card details. Next, you will be able to pay in an online store by logging in with your Google account and managing the payment using the card entered into your Google account. Stores could include an API in their shopping cart procedure and integrate Google Checkout as a payment method. A commission had to be paid for each transaction.
Later development
The end of the service in 2013 does not mean that Google has completely withdrawn from the Internet payment services market. In contrast, Google expanded its service with Google Wallet to provide strong competition to PayPal from eBay and other providers.
