PayPal microtransaction service announced

PayPal has officially announced a new microtransaction service for the purchase of virtual goods in online games.

The upcoming utility, tipped by PayPal in September, will make use of existing PayPal logins and will allow in-game and in-site payments on PC and mobile without need to leave a host application or page.

The service will see PayPal take 5 per cent plus 5 cents on all transactions under $12.

"The decision to purchase digital goods and content usually happens on impulse, so the act of paying needs to be as quick as that impulse," said PayPal’s vice president of global product strategy Sam Shrauger.

"PayPal for digital goods is an ideal solution for game developers, newspapers, bloggers, media companies, and anyone who is looking to monetize premium digital content around the globe."