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The "strategic addition" of Bill Me Later to eBay Inc.'s portfolio strengthens and extends eBay-owned PayPal Inc.'s leadership position in online payments, according to Bob Swan, eBay senior vice president of finance and chief financial officer. EBay acquired online credit lender Bill Me Later in October (CardLine, 10/6/08). "The acquisition is off to a great start," Swan told analysts yesterday during the company's fourth-quarter earnings call. Bill Me Later is an online-payment product that enables consumers to get a line of credit to pay for online purchases. Swan says Bill Me Later's portfolio balance at the end of 2008 reached $570 million. "Bill Me Later's unique transactional-based credit-decisioning model enables the business to adapt to the changing economic environment while earning a higher-than-industry-average risk-adjusted margin, " he said. While net-charge-offs have increased moderately, Swan said they are much less than that of other credit issuers and is in line with eBay's expectations.
