Google in-app payments due May 2011 tips Jambool

Google’s in-app payments system looks set to arrive in May 2011, extrapolating from existing payments provider – and Google acquisition – Jambool‘s exit from the segment. According to a Jambool email sent to its users, “the existing Jambool Social Gold product will be discontinued in favor of a new Google in-app payment product in May 2011.”

Unfortunately, the official Google service won’t be quite up to the same standard as Jambool’s system, at least initially. The new version “will enable developers to accept payments within an app, but it will not have the full functionality of Social Gold at launch” the company admits. The suggestion is that Google will officially launch in-app payments at Google I/O 2011, to be held on May 10 and 11.

Hello,

Thank you for your use of the Jambool Social Gold platform. As you know, Jambool was acquired by Google last August. This acquisition meant that some changes to our business were inevitable, and we’d like to share them with you today.

First, the existing Jambool Social Gold product will be discontinued in favor of a new Google in-app payment product in May 2011. Rest assured that you will be able to sign in to the Jambool merchant console through September 2011, and you will receive year-end financial statements in February 2012.

Second, we’d like to invite you to participate in the pre-release beta of the Google in-app payment system. This system will enable developers to accept payments within an app, but it will not have the full functionality of Social Gold at launch. We understand that this will not meet the needs of all developers currently using Social Gold, but we highly encourage interested developers to join the Google in-app payments beta by submitting your information at http://google.com/checkout/inapp.

Again, we thank you for your flexibility during this transition period. Please feel free to respond to this email with any questions about your Jambool account or the new Google in-app payment product.

Sincerely,

The Jambool Team

[via TechCrunch]