61–70 of 348 posts
I don't think they need regulation. I think they need to carry on like they are for a few more years so I can watch them be eaten alive by crypto currencies and other fintech innovations.
Paypal only exists because the current infrastructure of payments in the US is a joke Nobody needs paypal in Europe. Of course, they try to sell themselves as "the easiest way" (which is right to a point) but it's mostly unneeded
As bank transfer takes a lot of time to "process", money exchanging in Europe is really annoying. Paypal made and makes it fast. I don't like them, but I don't know anything better sadly.
I still use Paypal quite a bit, but because it's simply convenient to use it and be able to change where my payments go from (which card/account etc.) without having to change what's on file with merchants.
Given that we've all read similar situations happening all over the web, I'm surprised organizations aren't including "paypal drops us for arbitrary reasons" or "paypal freezes our funds with them for arbitrary reasons" in their risk assessments when choosing vendors. In almost every case, that risk should probably push decision makers away from Paypal. It is also a little entertaining that their "brand risk" departm…
> It is also a little entertaining that their "brand risk" department is probably doing so much unintentional damage to the brand. reply Their brand risk department obviosly tries to optimize the brand for someone big, someone nameless, and not for the customers. This itself leads to questions about paypals business model. Are they in business to provide payment services to users, or are their primary customers actua…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
What are the alternatives in Europe that make Paypal not needed? Genuinely curious, not saying you're wrong by any means.
Just normal bank transfer. As long as you have the target bank account number, which is standardized across Europe now, you can pay anyone. Takes a few days though. There is a European rule that a cross-border transfer may not cost more than a national one, which means that in most countries, only business accounts pay (low) fees.
Typically 24h in the SEPA.
So, suprise suprise, my 6 years old blogpost continues to be spot on https://jeena.net/paypal that is when I deleted my PayPal account. But it was not all dance on roses after that, suprisingly many only offer PayPal as a way to pay them, so I always have to try to contact them and to try to explain and to ask for another way to pay. Most of the time they won't/can't help me.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
And it's quick. I can send money between two different UK bank accounts, using sort code and account number, and it appears in the recipient's account within about half an hour. In Europe (Germany and Austria from my experience), many online services specifically support bank transfers using an IBAN number. It does seem to take a little longer though for the money to process.
I live in a developing country (some call it third world) and we've had this capability for many years. I can pay from my computer, mobile, or at an ATM. How is the US so far behind the rest of the developed and developing world?
File sharing services are listed as requiring pre-approval, so Seafile should've sent them an email before accepting it as payment: https://www.paypal.com/us/webapps/mpp/ua/acceptableuse-full They're well within their rights to decline your business. If a bank told the government, "We have no absolutely no idea what our customers are doing with their money or who they're sending it to. Maybe they're sending it to ter…
That argument makes no sense.. Presumably Seafile has other payment options that are not asking for the same level of access. I can't remember the last time people mentioned terrorists (or other criminals') bank accounts in the news other than HSBC who intentionally laundered drug money.
Germany has a much stronger attachment to privacy than does the US, so maybe they have fewer "Know Your Customer" laws.
I have quite some personal experience with PayPal, and their policies seem quite random. If one person gets it into his or her head that something is not allowed, no voice of reason will change the decision. I wouldn't shed too much tears over it though, there are many better and cheaper alternative forms of payment.
Can you give some examples? I know in America there are lots of startups doing it, but what about the rest of the world? I looked into Skrill a few years ago which seems to be just as international as Paypal, but also with just as horrible terms and conditions.
File sharing services are listed as requiring pre-approval, so Seafile should've sent them an email before accepting it as payment: https://www.paypal.com/us/webapps/mpp/ua/acceptableuse-full They're well within their rights to decline your business. If a bank told the government, "We have no absolutely no idea what our customers are doing with their money or who they're sending it to. Maybe they're sending it to ter…
I would interpret this restriction for services similar to RapidShare, MegaUpload, etc. with the only intention of sharing files. Seafile is primarily for hosting your personal data.