BeeDeeDubbleU - 8:49 am on Aug 5, 2008 (gmt 0)

It's not a good idea and I doubt that it will take off. If Google cannot challenge Paypal then neither can Amazon. But then maybe they are not trying to challenge Paypal?

For all it's critics, Paypal is good at what it does and with such an enormous, established user base it will take a bit of shifting.

Here's my idea of a contender.

* It would be backed and associated with a respected bank or institution and preconceived as safe and secure.
* It would charge less commission than Paypal.
* It would provide easy access to funds.
* It would facilitate the sale of downloads.
* It would be easy to open an account.
* It would have no monthly commission or start up fees.

I am actually surprised that no major bank has thought of introducing such a service. The Royal Bank of Scotland's WorldDirect system goes some way towards this but it is expensive.

Incidentally the RBS Worldpay system is now offering WorldDirect along with Paypal. This association tells us that Paypal is now considered to be one of the most trusted solutions, even by major competitors like Worldpay.