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That's the rub--Paypal is not a bank. They can do whatever they want with the virtual money that is exchanged on their servers. Which is why a real merchant a
by acabal 16y ago
That's the rub--Paypal is not a bank. They can do whatever they want with the virtual money that is exchanged on their servers. Which is why a real merchant account is the only serious option for a larger-scale business.
- mattmanser 16y agoThey are a bank in Europe, just not the US. Sounds like the whole legal status in the US is a bit of a mess really: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PayPal#Regulation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PayPal#Regulation
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- acabal 16y agoI stand corrected, good to know!
- all 16y agoWhile that may be true, Luxembourg is known as a tax haven. I note that Amazon also registers its European operations there. From the same source as you cited: "Concern about Luxembourg's banking secrecy laws, and its reputation as a tax haven, led in April 2009 to it being added to a "grey list" of nations with questionable banking arrangements by the G20." [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Luxembourg#Banking http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Luxembourg#Banking] So, in effect, Paypal is probably a bank in nominal terms only. They can still do pretty much whatever they want with your money and get away with it. That is why my company went with WorldPay even when we started out. We don't get charged any fees, just commission, and we get free fraud insurance on the major credit cards.
- auxbuss 16y agoPaypal is a bank in Europe, as stated. I was one of those who lobbied to achieve this. I was burned by this odious outfit more than five years ago. You don't get two chances with someone else's money in their lifetime. You can't be a bank "in nominal terms only" in Europe. Once registered as a bank you are bound by EU and Member State laws. There's no sidestepping that. Governments can't sidestep them. The fact that Paypal is registered as a bank in a European Member State means that they must abide by these laws and the regulation that goes with it. Remember, loser pays in European courts. So when a bank steps outside the law, it will be liable for costs and "damages". It is not in their interests to break or even "stretch" the law. Regardless, I wouldn't do business with Paypal if you paid me. Well, perhaps I would, but pay it straight to my bank, and not via Paypal. P.S. My fight goes on: this week I have been active again in the European Parliament with MEPs fighting to get the appalling ACTA spiked. Something we should all be aware of and striving to kill.
- nodata 16y agoThey are a bank in Europe - or at least, they have a banking license in Europe. Edit: mattmanser got there first.
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- laverick 16y agoWell, you can bet this kind of experience would quickly convince somebody to add alternative billing/donation options :)
- jacquesm 16y agoPaypal actually is a bank, just not in all jurisdictions. As for the 'virtual money', it's not virtual, it's real. They run what is technically called a wallet system. A real merchant account is of course an option, but the transaction fees can be quite high, there is the charge-back risk and a whole pile of regulatory hoops to go through before you can get that to work. Larger scale businesses have plenty of users for who credit card use is not an option. Large parts of the world are relatively free of the credit card plague and so can not pay you using your merchant account. For those situations paypal (or something like it that does not have paypals drawbacks) is a solution.
- dRother 16y agoIt's not 'virtual' money. We're not talking tokens here, this is actual money.