PayPal may be in trouble......


FYI

MasterCard to stop third-party transactions
Fri Apr 19, 6:29 AM ET
Andrew Backover USA TODAY
A new rule by MasterCard could crimp online commerce by stopping merchants from taking credit card payments via third parties, such as popular PayPal, USA TODAY has learned. On May 1, unless new terms are reached, Internet merchants that rely on third-party billing, most often small merchants, could miss out on sales via the USA's No. 2 online credit card. And MasterCard holders could have a harder time using their cards at many sites, including auction sites, that use PayPal and similar services, says Gartner analyst Avivah Litan. ''The promise of the Internet was that anyone could set up shop and get paid,'' she says.
''It's not a level playing field anymore if this rule goes through.'' According to MasterCard, its 15,000 card issuers won't be allowed to process credit card transactions using third-party services. Such services are most often used by small merchants because they can't afford to take credit cards. PayPal is the biggest third-party service, with about 13 million registered users. It does 240,000 transactions a day worth about $13 million -- about half of which is done via credit cards. Sellers on auction sites such as eBay and Yahoo may use PayPal to process transactions. Earlier this year, PayPal was used for about 28% of eBay transactions, Litan said. The change would not, MasterCard says, affect people who occasionally use third-party services to sell goods online -- only entities who sell goods or services ''on an ongoing basis,'' according to a MasterCard memo. The change would require those merchants to set up deals with banks so they could take MasterCard directly.
Even if the change is made, consumers could still use their MasterCards to buy goods from Web sites that deal directly with MasterCard. The reason for the change, says MasterCard spokesman Alex Lau, is to protect financial institutions and cardholders from fraud and identity theft. The change is likely aimed at porn and gaming sites that have higher occurrences of theft, Litan says. PayPal is working hard to get exempted from the change. It became the first company to
offer a viable alternative to credit cards on the Net by approaching eBay merchants who previously had to wait for checks to clear before sending out merchandise. PayPal signed the merchants up with fewer hassles and charged lower fees than banks. It uses its agreements with banks to process credit card payments for them. PayPal has been one of few Internet initial public offerings of late. Its shares closed Thursday at $24.46.
PayPal spokesman Vince Sollitto says PayPal is ''hopeful and confident'' it will come to new terms with MasterCard. Visa still accepts PayPal, as does American Express.

More from > Business - USA TODAY




tkmetz
Of course, if you use your credit card for payment through PayPal, you have recourse with them. Everything I buy with my card is insured.
I am entering this discussion from a merchant account
owner's persepective. My company has accepted most of the
major credit cards going all the way back to 1990 or so.
First and foremost, I think it should be mentioned that
most merchant credit card accounts have language which
prohibits a company from accepting charges for another
company (or third party). This is done to protect both the
merchant and the credit card issuer from possible fraudulent
transactions by a third party. This also prevents some
less than credit worthy operations - such as Escort Services
and Internet Porn Sites - from using someone's merchant
account for possibly illegal transactions.
I might also add that most merchant agreements DO NOT
allow a company to offer goods or services at a higher
price just because it is being charged to a credit card.
In fact, I have told more than one merchant that I would
report them to Visa International or Mastercard unless they
charged me the "cash" price for a purchase. One outfit -
a brokerage firm that sells broadcast equipment - thought
they could get away with it. WRONG!!!
They not only wound up almost losing their account with
Mastercard, but sent me back my 3% "fee" with a letter
of appology. Maybe you might think about that last item
when some turkey tells you they are going to charge you an
extra 3 or 4% to use your credit card.
Quite frankly, it would not bother me a bit to see
PayPal go under as a result of Mastercard's decision. There
is WAY TOO MUCH fraud on the internet right now - and you
as a credit card holder are payaing for it with higher
interest rates and fees.
I used Paypal for my first e-bay transaction. I then used it a couple more times until they told me I'd have to let them process a "test" transaction against my bank account (some gibberish about proving my worth). I spent my life in the investment business and saw considerable risk in giving them enough info to post to my bank account. I wouldn't do it, and told them so twice. I've used up my $1,000 limit (unless you let them process against your bank account they shut you off at that level) and will never uise them again. Incidentally, the fact that they've doubled since the IPO means nothing unless you sell.
Like others, I am not comfortable sharing all of my banking data with PayPal or anyone else. However, I use PayPal so I only have to give my credit card info to one company (PayPal) vs. numerous companies or individuals. If PayPal keeps credit card info confidential, and I believe they do, that should reduce fraud risk. I can't speak for other companies who execute similar business models: The porn business is a very different environment which may not have the same level of integrity -- the psychological similarities betweeen audio and porn can be handled in another thread ;-) The remedies to reduce fraud risk in some areas do not also need to remove customer convenience and increase fraud risk in others. For example, why not allow the practice for companies with a strong balance sheet that have owners with excellent credit scores? My two cents.
I believe that part of the agreement with PayPal (the terms that you agree to when you sign up with them) absolves them of any responsibility for your transactions. I'm sure they do what they can to help someone solve their problems because it's in their best business interest, but in the end they have no real power or control...especially if the criminal party wasn't registered and verified with them...and I highly doubt PayPal has the right to remove funds from their bank account to make up for an allegedly fraudulaent credit card transaction. You do have consumer protection when you purchase goods with your credit card, but I don't think many credit card companies can offer that same protection when you go through a third party like PayPal (although it's worth filing a claim with them...just in case). You have protection when you use your card with a merchant because that merchant has legal agreements with the card companies...those companies can always charge the merchant back if they don't act responsibly...they have a lot of power over the merchants. PayPal can prove that you agreed to waive their liability for your transactions. Whether or not that would actually hold up in court...I don't know.

I do think this is going to become a huge issue in the future. THe amount of internet-based sales keeps growing and growing and PayPal has become a huge business. They're currently trying to have the best of both worlds. They want to make money by accepting credit cards for individuals and small businesses, but they don't want to deal with the costly fraud and liability that comes along with the accepting of credit cards. Any credit card accepting merchant has those responsibilites and PayPal should too. The amount of fraud and merchandise complaints for their type of business must be unbelievably high. I'm sure they can always survive as a conduit to transfer funds from people's bank accounts, but their profits will disappear the day they're held responsible for their credit card transactions. I'd sell that IPO stock as soon as you're able. :-)