Google Checkout now available to UK online shoppers

Google's online payment system, Google Checkout, was introduced in the UK in April 2007, several months after its initial launch in America in July 2006. Similar to the phenomenally successful PayPal, Google Checkout, often referred to as Gbuy, allows safe transactions between customers and retailers by providing a central clearing house.

Google is keen to point out, however, that Checkout has not been set up to rival PayPal but instead to offer an alternative system for online shoppers and merchandisers. As Google Checkout only processes credit card transactions and doesn't allow users to open their own payment accounts, the two systems do not compete directly against each other.

The main aim of Google's Checkout system is to boost its income from advertising - its main source of revenue. In the UK as in the US, retailers who advertise with Google are offered a discount on orders processed, which increases according to their advertising spend.