I live outside NA/Europe. Here's how I use, and often have no choice but to use, PayPal: 1] As of Oct '22, PayPal's the only gateway that enables me to pay for

I live outside NA/Europe. Here's how I use, and often have no choice but to use, PayPal: 1] As of Oct '22, PayPal's the only gateway that enables me to pay for Hetzner hosting and Medium. On paper, both support credit cards and they worked fine till '21. But some bureaucratic craziness over banking and data sovereignty rules here really messed up credit card and recurring payments. Now they work with some gateways but not with others. I can't use my CC directly with Hetzner but I can use that same credit card through PayPal. 2] I subscribe to some newsletters published by people living in N. America. PayPal's the only option they provide. 3] I sometimes write or code freelance for US clients. PayPal's the only way to get payments from most of them. Some even have policies that say don't write for us if you can't receive PayPal payments in your country. My impression of the global payments ecosystem is that it's a precarious system held up by bubble gum and shoe strings. There's no transparency, too much bureaucracy, and often no customer support. It always feels like I'm just one step away from being totally excluded from the world and my livelihood and hobbies cut short overnight. Considering the images of its founders, it's ironic that the much-hated PayPal has been the only one that's worked consistently over 2 decades and made efforts to remain inclusive. They even stuck through some unfair regulatory bullying a few years ago when it seemed like they may permanently exit my country. I know from discussions that people in other countries in the global South have it much worse. Probably, many are already excluded completely. I don't see the ecosystem as a whole doing anything to be more inclusive. If people in the payment ecosystem are laughing at PayPal, you should probably know that I think all of you are even worse.