After dealing with Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG)'s "Checkout" online payment and transaction service recently, I came away surprised but not really that impressed. The largest reason? It's probably in the name -- "Checkout." That's all Google Checkout allows a customer to do. Is the service comparable to eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY)'s PayPal's "online bank" look and feel? Not even close.

Now, this is not exactly new news -- I realize that. But the comparisons (for about a year now) that have pitted Google Checkout against eBay's PayPal have made mincemeat out of what does not exist -- true competition. PayPal is situated like an online bank. In fact, it operates and lets customers perform bank-like transactions. Sending money, receiving money, using several credit cards for online purchases, printing shipping information to sellers and quite a bit more.

Google Checkout allows paying for online purchases pretty easily, but that's just about where I see similarities end. I am pretty sure Google Checkout will evolve to take on PayPal, but right now it's not even in the same league: Checkout's international limitations (U.S. and UK currencies only) and PayPal's "bank-like" feel along with a whole gamut of customer-friendly options puts PayPal way (way) ahead of Checkout. Google's service needs to -- has to -- do better.

I'm anxious to see what Amazon Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN)'s recently unveiled Flexible Payments Service will bring to the table. I hope it's more than Google's year-old effort.

As several sources wrote last week, Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) will start its own online payment system that will put it into competition with eBay's (NASDAQ: EBAY) PayPal and Google's (NASDAQ: GOOG) CheckOut service. Although CheckOut is not a large business for Google, PayPal is a very large revenue source for eBay.

The new product will be called Amazon Flexible Payments Service, according to MarketWatch.

The investors in eBay have reason to watch the development closely. PayPal revenue rose 34% last quarter to $454 million. The unit had almost 36 million active accounts at the end of the June 30 period.

While Google's major business is not as likely to funnel customers to become users of an online payment system, Amazon's retail customers might well use its systems if it become part of the standard e-commerce operations at the company's websites.

That could give eBay fits.

Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 247wallst.com.