Billpoint
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| name = Billpoint
| logo = File:Billpoint-en.jpg
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| industry = Financial services
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| successor = eBay
| foundation = {{start date and age|1998|10}}
| founders = {{Unbulleted list|Sang Young Lee|Hope Chen|Will Chen|Jason May|Ian Flint|Jay Shen}}
| defunct = 2003
| location_city = Redwood City, California, United States
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| homepage = [https://web.archive.org/web/20021128131942/http://www.billpoint.com/ www.billpoint.com]
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Billpoint was the name of a person-to-person money transfer service founded in 1998, and purchased in 1999 by online auctioneer eBay.{{cite web | title=eBay Bidding Bye Bye to Billpoint | website=Internetnews.com | date=December 16, 2002 | author=Beth Cox | url=http://www.internetnews.com/ec-news/article.php/1557551 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021217063516/http://www.internetnews.com/ec-news/article.php/1557551 | archive-date=December 17, 2002 | url-status=dead }}
History
Billpoint was founded in 1998 by Sang Young Lee, Hope Chen, Will Chen, Jason May, Ian Flint and Jay Shen, with headquarter in Redwood City, California. The company obtained venture funding from Sequoia Capital in February 1999,{{cite web|title=Interview: Billpoint Founder Jason May on eBay, Open Source|url=http://wtnnews.com/articles/101/| work=WTN News | author=John Schneider | date=May 7, 2003 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131021142230/http://wtnnews.com/articles/101/ | archive-date=October 21, 2013 | url-status=dead }} and later that year was purchased by eBay; its website was taken offline while integration into eBay's auction service took place. It reappeared in 2000 when it was relaunched as a joint venture with Wells Fargo bank.{{cite book | title=The PayPal Wars: Battles with eBay, the Media, the Mafia, and the Rest of Planet Earth | author=Eric M. Jackson | publisher=World Ahead Publishing | year=2006 | isbn=978-0-9778984-3-5 | page= }}
During this interval, online payment service PayPal was launched, rapidly becoming popular with eBay's customers. Billpoint and eBay spent much of the next two years trying to overtake PayPal, but with mixed results.{{cite web | title=Billpoint failure a lesson for eBay? | date=July 8, 2002 | author=Troy Wolverton | work=CNET News | url=http://www.news.com/2100-1017-942231.html | archive-url=https://archive.today/20130208134323/http://www.news.com/2100-1017-942231.html | archive-date=February 8, 2013 | url-status=dead }}
In July 2002, eBay CEO Meg Whitman agreed to the acquisition of PayPal with its CEO Peter Thiel. When the deal was closed in October 2002, eBay began the process of phasing out Billpoint. The shutdown was completed in early 2003.{{Cite news|url=http://www.ecommercebytes.com/cab/abn/y02/m12/i16/s01|title=eBay to Phase Out Billpoint Online Payment Service | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180204184452/http://www.ecommercebytes.com/cab/abn/y02/m12/i16/s01 | work=EcommerceBytes | author=Ina Steiner | date=December 16, 2002 | archive-date=February 4, 2018 | url-status=live }}
See also
- {{Portal inline|Money}}
References
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{{Digital payment providers}}
Category:1999 mergers and acquisitions
Category:Defunct financial services companies of the United States
Category:Financial services companies disestablished in 2003
Category:Financial services companies established in 1998
Category:Online financial services companies of the United States
Category:Payment service providers
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