"Online and offline commerce are converging into a 'new retail' experience, powered by mobile, local, social and digital innovation. In this new environment, people want a seamless and integrated shopping and payments solution that works anytime, anywhere -- on any connected device," Matthew Mengerink, who will lead the combined developer program, .

Mengerink didn't provide specific details about the process to combine the programs and the platforms, but said more details will be forthcoming and that eBay will hold a single developer conference this year, Innovate, in October.

The developer programs provide a variety of tools and resources for third-party programmers to build complementary applications for PayPal and eBay merchants. Over the years, eBay, which owns PayPal, has said that these external programmers are key to the success of its eBay marketplace and PayPal online payment system.