Skype users to get PayPal

Payments by VoIP

Skype will soon offer users the ability to transfer money using PayPal.

Both companies are owned by eBay, so integrating the two isn't the biggest surprise. eBay paid $1.5bn for PayPal in 2002 and bought Skype for $2.6bn in 2005.

Skype chief executive Niklas Zennstrom told Reuters: "You can send money over Skype. This is basically connecting the Skype community over PayPal. All the user needs is a PayPal account".

A spokesman for the company said the service would likely launch within a month.

In other news, PayPal said it has nearly 35 million accounts in Europe. In 2006 the company transferred $8.4bn in European transactions. PayPal has offices in 15 European countries.

Forrester Research reckons 23 per cent of European internet shoppers prefer paying by PayPal. ®