eBay Gets Charged Up

One of the bigger announcements out of this weekend's eBay Live 2007 event in Boston - since Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) played nice by calling off its protest party -- is a new version of the eBay MasterCard through GE Money.

General Electric (NYSE: GE), eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY), and MasterCard (NYSE: MA) have been plastic friends before, hooking up for credit card partnerships for both eBay and eBay's own PayPal. However, the new card program rolling out later this month will offer fresh designs and a new loyalty rewards plan.

Under GE Money's rewards program, cardholders will be eligible for points that can be applied to things like shipping discounts and seller fee credits. The card will work seamlessly with PayPal, which is the online payment service that many eBay users turn to when it comes to paying for eBay transactions in the first place.

One of the options will be to have your eBay user ID added to the card. Maybe it's just me, but I'd pass on that particular vanity. Despite the promised protection, do you really want the cashier at your hairdresser or your bartender at happy hour to know who you are on eBay?

eBay is already a popular target of phishing scams. Do you really want to stand out as a tempting real world eBay user?

Don't get me wrong, here. Active eBay buyers and sellers have a right to be proud about their auction marketplace of choice. That's pretty much what the annual eBay Live powwow is all about. Despite the occasional potholes and seller groans whenever eBay hikes its fees, the site works. Even now, as stateside listings have stalled, the auctions taking place are resulting in higher conversion rates at higher prices.

So cheer loud, eBay fans in Boston. However, making a decision on your next credit card will hopefully be about more than just plastic art.