PayPal torks Strine

Online payments gateway PayPal has launched an Australian site, boosting its January promise to support Australian dollar transactions.

PayPal, which is owned by US-based online auction house eBay, has added pages at www.paypal.com/au for its local customers.

The Australian site would also use Australian English, the company claimed.

However, that wasn't necessarily clear on the new website itself.

"We're pleased to announce the arrival of PayPal in Australia," the company said in a message to its customers online.

News media reports said that PayPal believed Australian users would be much more comfortable using a local site.

PayPal claims to be a global leader in online payments, supporting some 56 million accounts around the world. Its services are used by eBay buyers to pay sellers securely for their purchases from individuals and companies globally.

"PayPal is used every day by eBay buyers and sellers, as well as many other online businesses. And it is available in 45 countries and six currencies -- Euros, US dollars, pounds sterling, Australian dollars, Canadian dollars, and yen," the company said online.

PayPal was reported as saying its Australian dollar service might be able to eliminate cross-border currency transaction fees charged by some offshore sellers.

The payments company said it had also "enhanced" customer support via telephone or email.

PayPal claims to have the highest level of security available, including advanced encryption, privacy protection and fraud prevention.