Scott Thompson was named President of PayPal earlier this year, and joined AuctionBytes to talk about the big-picture view of eBay's online payment service. In an Ecommerce Industry Soundbytes podcast, Thompson talked about the competitive landscape in online payments and PayPal's focus in the next 12 - 24 months. He also shares his thoughts on eBay's Safe Payments policy, including what the PayPal-only policy on eBay Australia means for the rest of the world.

Thompson said he is committed to Safe Payments in Australia because it offers compelling reasons for both sellers and buyers, making it safer and more convenient.

"We are moving to Safe Payments in Australia decisively, we absolutely believe it's the right thing to do. But I wouldn't take it as a foreshadowing of things that we intend to do elsewhere. We certainly have not announced any plans to bring Safe Payments - other than PayPal-required for listings in the UK - we haven't announced Safe Payments anywhere else in the world, and we're not in the position to do that today."

The PayPal-only policy on eBay Australia has been controversial, and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is considering eBay's "exclusive dealing" complies with Australia's Trade Practices Act of 1974 (http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y08/m04/i16/s02).

The full interview with PayPal President Scott Thompson can be heard on Ecommerce Industry Soundbytes:
http://podcast.auctionbytes.com/cgi-bin/podcast/pod.pl?/pl/2008/5/1210213977.html