EBay has abandoned plans to force Australian customers to use the PayPal service to make payments on its online auction site.
In a statement on its Web site the firm says it has withdrawn its notification to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) about removing other payment methods from the site.
EBay applied to the ACCC for an exemption from the Trade Practices Act in April as part of its plans to stop Australian customers using payments methods such as direct bank deposits, cheques and money orders. The firm claimed the move was designed to increase security for buyers on the site.
But the plan was met with widespread opposition, with the Australian Bankers Association and The Reserve Bank among those lodging submissions with the ACCC in an attempt to stop the rule change.
Last month the watchdog issued a draft notice proposing to revoke the notification lodged by eBay, amid concerns about the "anti-competitive effect" of the proposal.
Graeme Samuel, chairman of the competition watchdog, called on eBay to delay implementation of the plan until the ACCC makes a final decision. The auction house agreed to delay the move until 15 July but in a statement on its Web site, said it "challenges" the ACCC draft notice.
However, the online auction site now says it has dropped the notification and will allow customers to use all existing payments methods in order to "stop any further confusion and disruption among the eBay community".
The firm will not roll back the introduction of a rule to make all sellers offer PayPal as one of their payments option.