PayPal and X.commerce Launch PayPal Access

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--At eBay Inc.’s Innovate Developer Conference 2011, PayPal and X.commerce, the world’s first open commerce ecosystem, today introduced PayPal Access, a new trusted commerce identity system that makes it safer and easier for customers to shop across the web without having to remember multiple passwords.

“PayPal Access eliminates the point of friction in the checkout process and helps retailers increase conversion rates - we're thrilled to partner with the company and offer PayPal Access as part of Gigya's Social Login plugin and API.”

Available to global retailers today, PayPal Access gives consumers the ability to sign up and sign in to participating websites with just their PayPal usernames and passwords. PayPal has more than 100 million accounts in 190 markets worldwide.

Unlike identity solutions currently on the market, PayPal Access provides everything consumers and merchants need to create an account and complete a transaction – including user verification, shipping information, and payment details. By helping retailers simplify login and account creation, PayPal Access can help increase conversion and loyalty on merchants’ websites. Research shows that nearly one out of every four consumers abandon their shopping carts when they’re asked to register an account.*

“There’s still too much friction in online shopping,” said Damon Hougland, general manager of Identity and Informatics for X.commerce. “Consumers don’t want to enter multiple pages of information to make a purchase. With PayPal Access, consumers can spend less time filling out forms and more time buying. Retailers can create a great shopping experience for millions of customers who already trust PayPal to buy online.”

With just two clicks or taps, a customer can sign up or sign in to a retail site. Important user information, such as shipping address, will be automatically updated. Although customers can choose to use their financial details stored in their PayPal accounts, PayPal keeps that information private and secure.

Partners joining the PayPal Access program include leading social integration provider Gigya, whose technology supports global leaders including ABC, CBS and The Coca-Cola Company and reaches 700 million unique visitors per month, and social identity and user management provider Janrain, the social login solution for more than 350,000 websites including Universal Music Group and Sears.com.

“PayPal is a trusted brand with both merchants and consumers,” said Patrick Salyer, CEO of Gigya. “PayPal Access eliminates the point of friction in the checkout process and helps retailers increase conversion rates - we're thrilled to partner with the company and offer PayPal Access as part of Gigya's Social Login plugin and API.”

“Retailers need to innovate to keep pace with consumers’ evolving shopping and purchasing preferences and are looking for tools like PayPal Access,” said Larry Drebes, CEO of Janrain. “As a long-time partner of PayPal, we are pleased to be able to include PayPal Access in the Janrain Engage Social Login widget and API to help merchants and application developers offer an easy and trusted login experience to their customers.”

For consumers, PayPal Access is:

Faster: Users do not need to enter separate usernames and passwords for each website they visit. On their first visit, they can create a store account in only two clicks – no more pages of forms to fill out.
Safer: PayPal has some of the most advanced security systems in the industry. Because a user’s financial information is not shared with the merchant, privacy is built into the service.
Private and User-Controlled: This new "identity ecosystem" protects your privacy. PayPal Access shares personal information only when the user explicitly approves. Users control what personal information is released, and they can ensure that their data is not shared for irrelevant marketing offers.

For merchants, PayPal Access provides:

Relevance: PayPal Access gives merchants access to more than 100 million active accounts with verified addresses and payment methods – in other words, real people who buy online.
Customer Insight: PayPal helps users sign up with their full ecommerce profile – including addresses, phone numbers, and real names – and with just two clicks, their accounts on merchants’ sites are complete and verified.
Easy Integration: Merchants can integrate PayPal Access into their websites with just a few simple steps and be fully operational in minutes.

* Forrester Research. “Required Registration Lowers Online Conversion Rates”

About PayPal

PayPal is the faster, safer way to pay and get paid online. The service allows people to send money without sharing financial information, with the flexibility to pay using their account balances, bank accounts, credit cards or promotional financing. With 100 million active accounts in 190 markets and 25 currencies around the world, PayPal enables global commerce. PayPal is an eBay (Nasdaq:EBAY) company. PayPal is headquartered in San Jose, Calif. and its international headquarters is located in Singapore. More information about the company can be found at www.paypal.com.

About X.commerce

X.commerce brings together the technology assets and developer communities of eBay, PayPal and Magento to support eBay Inc.’s mission of enabling commerce. Through our ecosystem of developers, partners and tools, merchants now have access to open commerce technology to scale and grow their businesses.