Skype to soon support Paypal payments

Skype announced Tuesday that the popular Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service would soon allow PayPal payments, further opening the service for business transactions.

Niklas Zennstrom, Skype CEO and co-founder said that the service will allow users to send PayPal payments to other Skype users. In Dec 2006 there were 171 million registered Skype users. Founded in 2002 by Zennstrom and Janus Friis, Skype was purchased in 2005 by eBay for about $2.6 billion in cash and company stock. "The acquisition will strengthen eBay's global marketplace and payments platform," the company said in a statement at the time. "Skype, eBay, and PayPal will create an unparalleled e-commerce and communications engine for buyers and sellers around the world."

PayPal is already used by Skype users to pay for its premium services, such as calls to regular phones. Currently, Skype's phone service is free if made from computer-to-computer, but there are several other optional premium services available.

The payment option, called Send Money, allows a PayPal user, who is also a Skype user, to log on and choose an amount to send to another Skype user. A company spokesperson said the service would be made available in about a month. Skype Find, Skype Prime

A few other Skype business services have been announced recently. Skype Find offers a way to find local business listings that have been offered and rated within the Skype community. Skype Prime, which is currently in beta, allows users to offer and sell services, such as advice or answers, to other Skype users. Skype has been promoting Skype Extras, recently launched, which provides an venue for outside products and services. For example, the KiskKisk Lie Detector, available as a free download, offers "a tool to detect the stress level of the person" with whom you are talking.

I can see some possibilities there. Using KiskKisk when I call the guy that sold me that collectable on Ebay that still has not shipped.