BT, Paypal Partner

LONDON -- BT Business has joined up with PayPal to allow BT Tradespace users to buy and sell products and services directly within the online community.

Under the terms of the agreement, BT Tradespace users will be able to add transactional capabilities to their individual Tradespaces. This will allow individuals and businesses to send and receive payments securely wherever they are in the world, turning their virtual shop front into a powerful sales tool. Free to set up and with no listing fee, merchants will only pay transaction fees on completed sales.

BT Tradespace is a unique and dynamic online community that brings small businesses and individual sellers together with potential customers and partners to do business. The service, which is free to join, allows businesses to quickly and easily create and post content on the web and link to complementary businesses.

Each BT Tradespace member’s page includes space for businesses to add blogs, photos, podcasts, contact information, maps, virtual business card and Click-to-Call, and to join communities – creating a customisable and multi-dimensional site for marketing and interaction.

This move also coincides with another major improvement designed to aid both the buy and sell-side experience within Tradespace. Enhanced next generation search has been incorporated, to help users explore and find what is really useful from user generated content such as blogs, podcasts, photos and videos.

These enhancements take BT Tradespace to the next level of its evolution. From a community platform based on marketing, affiliation and recommendation it will now become a fully-rounded marketplace for products and services. With over 14,000 businesses already signed up, this presents a large and diverse commercial opportunity for both buyers and sellers.

Ivan Croxford, head of Market Development, BT Business, said: “The PayPal name is respected the world over for ease of use and security. It therefore represents a natural fit for the BT brand – providing a trusted and credible service for buying and communicating online.

“The addition of transactional capabilities takes BT Tradespace to the next major landmark in our roadmap - turning it from a pure community platform to a full commercial marketplace. This will deliver even more value to Tradespacers opening up another potentially lucrative channel to market.”

“Individuals looking to buy products and services on Tradespace will now be able to find information easily and make buying decisions much more rapidly. From brochures and collateral, to customer recommendations, partner networks and payment capabilities, everything is present to support the full buying experience,”

Cameron McLean, general manager Merchant Services at PayPal UK, said: “We are delighted to support BT Tradespace business customers. With more than 15 million accounts in the UK, PayPal offers consumers a secure way to pay no matter how they choose to fund that transaction (by bank account, debit or credit card). We look forward to sharing the convenience and security of the PayPal system with BT’s Tradespacers.”

BT Group plc (NYSE: BT; London: BTA)