Is google checkout definately ending thier free payment processing at the end of this year? I heard something about aol/netscape putting together a free payment processor?.... and news on this?
The free period is not going to be permanent because if it is, it would be losing a lot of money along the way. Google is merely using this as a gimmick to get more people to try and hopefully switch to them permanently. I believe the one you are referring to is Revolution Money http://www.revolutionmoneyexchange.com/ . It works like Paypal where personal accounts is free. You can exchange funds between members. They have not provided full information yet but I suspect the merchants would be imposed a fee for receiving money. If not, they will not be able to sustain their business long term. While examining it further, it appears to be resembling Moneybookers where you need to load the Revolution Money account through your bank account then use the funds to do the payment. Since there is no credit card involved, they can cut off the chunk of fees which are levied by credit cards. If you notice, they have something call Revolution Card which is a new type of credit/debit card which they are trying to promote. This is sort of an exclusive card which I am sure they will be promoting to their Revolution Money customers. It looks like they have an ambitious plan to take on Visa and Mastercard by levying a lower fees to the merchants. Check out https://www.revolutionmoney.com/MediaResources.aspx