The online payment system PayPal may be facing competition.

Google reportedly is developing an online payment system that would compete with PayPal. A recent study by the Customer Respect Group, a research and consulting firm that focuses on how companies treat customers online, suggests that there may be an opportunity for a new payment system to siphon business from PayPal, which scored below three other broadly defined web financial firms. The Customer Respect Group, which also looked at banks and thrifts, credit card suppliers and securities firms, found that overall the surveyed firms did best in "simplicity" (ease of navigation) and worst in "responsiveness" (quick and helpful responses to inquiries). But PayPal has a big head start over any newcomer: The total value of payments processed in the first quarter alone jumped to $6.2 billion, up 44 percent from a year earlier.

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