Software Glitch Brings PayPal To Its Knees [October 12, 2004]

SAN JOSE, Calif., Oct 12, 2004 (The Canadian Press via COMTEX) -- Repairs were underway Monday at PayPal as the widely used online payment service struggled to get customers back on track after several days of "intermittent" outages.

Users of the EBay Inc.-owned company began experiencing some glitches Friday after a monthly upgrade of PayPal's software systems, said EBay spokeswoman Amanda Pires. The problems seemed to subside over the weekend but then recurred Monday, she said.

It is unclear how many of PayPal users were affected. Pires said some users were able to access PayPal while others were not.

PayPal is a common method of payment for buyers on EBay and is gaining popularity among customers of other online retailers as well as in money transactions between people in the off-line world.

The payment service has more than 50 million user accounts worldwide. It processed almost 78 million transactions worth $4.4 billion US in payments during the second quarter, a 53 per cent increase from the same period a year earlier.

Pires could not estimate when the service would return to normal. "We're working to get it fixed as soon as possible," she said.