Seems Google Payments (officially called Google Checkout, I believe) is alive and running well!!  Some said they couldn't find anything but evidently StarbucksStore.com, Buy.com, and Jockey.com did!..lol  They are already signed up.

The test phase includes those who were "invited" to sign up and test it (as I mentioned on the eBay board and some people just can't grasp that fact).    They are even in talks with PayPal about accepting PayPal payments, which is clearly the first step in moving in on them.  By accepting PayPal payments it markets themselves to PayPals customers and makes them aware that GC exisits, it will make some customers bypass Paypal and just sign up with GC, it will allow eBay buyers to use GC, and it will make the Paypal supporters think that GC must be safe and secure if the almighty PayPal uses them - which will in return secure GC in every market available so that they can safely become the next consumer to consumer transaction service.  SMART MOVE!  Here is the article:

Google wants to handle your online checkout

Posted 6/29/2006 12:01 AM ET

Google Checkout, to be announced Wednesday, will let security-conscious consumers store financial data and credit card numbers with Google and check out at participating online retailers without giving them the data. Next to the retailer's button to go to its checkout will be a button letting the buyer choose Google Checkout instead.

Checkout aims to be a secure middleman between the retailer and credit card companies, including Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover.

"We're doing the online transaction. We don't pass full credit card details to the merchant," says Salar Kamangar, vice president of product management.

He wouldn't say how many e-tailers had signed but cited StarbucksStore.com, Buy.com and Jockey.com.

Kamangar said a primary goal of Checkout is goodwill with retailers who buy its AdWords search ads, the little ads that show up with Google search results. The advertiser chooses the search keywords that cause the ad to appear.

"We're not trying to build Checkout as a new revenue stream," Kamangar says. "We're trying to increase purchases. If we can make checkout easier, we'll be able to increase our ad business."

As an incentive, Goggle will cut the online store's Checkout fees by a sum 10 times its search-ad spending. The Checkout fee for retailers is 2% of each transaction plus 20 cents for processing. Google, however, pays any credit card company fees — which can be more than 2% for small businesses.

One giant credit card issuer, Citigroup, will promote the service to its card holders. "Our objective ... is to encourage our card holders to do the majority of their Web spending through their Citi Cards," says Rob Rosenblatt, executive vice president of e-business for Citi Cards. "If card holders feel more secure, it dramatically increases the likelihood that they'll make the transaction."

Citigroup already offers a secure online buying system that lets its card holders create a single-use number for an online purchase rather than giving the e-tailer their real Citi Cards number.

Google says it also is in talks with online payment service PayPal to let Checkout handle payments by holders of PayPal accounts, which connect with its users' credit cards and banks.

Will consumers trust in Google or see it as Big Brother? "I can see some being fearful to give information to Google," says Greg Sterling of Sterling Market Intelligence. But he says others may find the Google name reassuring. "It might encourage some people to do a transaction they might not ordinarily do."

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/services/2006-06-29-google-checkout_x.htm?POE=TECISVA