eBay enabled $12 billion in transactions via mobile devices in the second quarter – a 68 per cent increase over last year.

The mobile figure represents nearly 20 per cent of total commerce volume, which stood at $62 billion.

The online giant also revealed that mobile downloads of its app have reached 260 million and it has attracted 6.6 million new mobile customers in the quarter.

Overall the company posted a 13 per cent growth in quarterly revenue to $4.37 billion. Net income (expressed on a GAAP basis) grew by six per cent to $676 million.

Challenges in the quarter included having to ask all eBay users to reset their password following security concerns, and the unexpected departure of David Marcus, the CEO of its PayPal unit, for Facebook.

In addition, the company acknowledged the challenge of establishing PayPal for in-store – as opposed to online – payments.

eBay CEO John Donahoe admitted mobile payments at the point-of-sale was progressing slower than other parts of the business.

During a conference call with analysts, Donahoe expressed faith in point-of-sale payments but said PayPal was “using more of a test and learn approach” by working with a small number of retailers.