Billpoint was the name of a person-to-person money transfer service founded in 1998 and purchased in 1999 by online auctioneer eBay.[1] Billpoint''s website was taken offline while eBay integrated Billpoint into their auction service, and it did not reappear until the Spring of 2000 when it was relaunched as a joint-venture with Wells Fargo bank.[2] During this interval, online payment service PayPal was launched, rapidly becoming popular with eBay''s customers. Billpoint and eBay spent much of the next two years trying to overtake PayPal, but with mixed results.[2][3] In July 2002, eBay CEO Meg Whitman agreed to the acquisition of PayPal with its CEO Peter Thiel. When the deal was closed in October 2002, eBay began the process of phasing out Billpoint.[3] The shutdown was completed in early 2003, following the 2002 Christmas holidays.
