Google debuts checkout payment service in Britain

Google Inc. made its "Google Checkout" available to British retailers Friday, the internet payment service's first venture abroad, the company said in a statement.

"Google Checkout" acts as an online wallet allowing consumers to pay for online purchases at participating retailers through the same Google log-in used to access the company's popular e-mail accounts. Users avoid entering the same personal and financial information every time they make a purchase.

Britain is Google's biggest market outside the United States.

The Mountain View, Calif.-based company is offering to waive processing fees for all retailers through the end of the year. After 2007, merchants will be offered discounts on processing fees by spending money on Google's internet ads.

Google's push into electronic payments looms as a potential threat to one of its biggest advertisers internet auctioneer eBay Inc., which owns the leading online payment service, Paypal.