PayPal is an online company that gives an alternative to normal customers as well as merchants to make payments. It is currently operating in 190 countries and regions and has 50 million customers. It first started as a C2C but after some time it also added a B2C function as well. The total transactions in the Q4 2006 were $11 billion. It is the largest e-commerce site in the world. EBay acquired its services in October 2002.It is the easiest way to transfer money form one person to another whether the other person has a PayPal account or not. The other person is notified by email and he can then receive the payment by creating a PayPal account. It is very simple to create such account, the only thing you need is a valid email address and a checking account that can be verified as this might be needed when you want a reclaim. You can add funds by a checking account, a credit card or payments from other paypal members. Other people can pay you by the means mentioned above. If you want to withdraw funds then you can ask for a check, ask them to put money in your checking accounts or debit card account. The paypal functions by collecting interest on your money and small transaction fees.
Pros and cons:
The good part is that you can transfer money as you were sending an email to someone in more than 190 countries and regions. The bad thing is that it when transferring funds more than $2000 a person needs a premium or a business account.
Why is it good for you:
It is very easy to use with no strings attached whatsoever. Many auction sites recommend PayPal. You personal information like credit card numbers are only known to PayPal and no one else. You can make purchases and transfer funds without having to worry about whether the other person would get the money or not. All of your financial statements and records are in one place. The premium and business account has many added functions like excel compatible worksheets and they charge very small portion for all the trading and the added features. You can deal in many currencies like Great Britain pound.
The most important feature of PayPal is custmer protection. You can get charge backs if you have not received the product you ordered, similarly the seller also has many protections against frauds if they have a proof of delivery. It does not matter whether the buyer used credit card or something else.
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