paypal question

[B. Goren.]

As you can imagine, I usually use my paypal account to send money. I recently sold some CDs so my paypal balance is positive. I have no intention to draw the money and to be honest, I am not sure I can do it since I don’t have a bank account in the US. What I would like to do is to use this positive balance but when I try to transfer money to somebody, the money is drawn from my credit card and not from the positive balance of my account which remains the same.

I tried to contact Paypal but so far no reply from their side. Maybe those of you who are more experienced with paypal can give me an advice???

Edited June 17, 2005 by B. Goren.

[Dan Gould]

Look closely at your options when you try to pay someone next time. They may try to hide it, but there should be a way to select your Paypal account as the source of your payment.

I've noticed that they're trying to make it harder to pay with a credit card if you've attached a checking account to your paypal account, but if I can go through a couple of screens to pay via credit card, surely you can pay with your paypal balance.

[B. Goren.]

Thank you Dan but there is no such an option. If I dont get their reply in the next few days I'll call paypal's Customer Service Center.

[Guest akanalog]

hey. there is an option to create a virtual credit card which uses your paypal balance. it is hard to find. it is under the withdraw tab i think. this is what i do. when people paypal me i use the virtual card at stores around the internet.

[B. Goren.]

  akanalog said:

hey.  there is an option to create a virtual credit card which uses your paypal balance.  it is hard to find.  it is under the withdraw tab i think.  this is what i do.  when people paypal me i use the virtual card at stores around the internet.

←

Thanks akanlog. I'll look for it.

[wigwise]

In my (buying) experience with PayPal, the final page of the transaction (just before clicking "send money") gives me the option of using either my bank account or credit card.

On the lower lefthand side of the screen it displays where the money is going to come from (cc or bank account) and the back-up source. It also has a link that you can click on to change funding from one source to the other. The default is my bank account. So, if I buy something and want the funds to come from my credit card I must go in and change it.

I hope this helps.

[B. Goren.]

  wigwise said:

In my (buying) experience with PayPal, the final page of the transaction (just before clicking "send money") gives me the option of using either my bank account or credit card.

On the lower lefthand side of the screen it displays where the money is going to come from (cc or bank account) and the back-up source.  It also has a link that you can click on to change funding from one source to the other.  The default is my bank account.  So, if I buy something and want the funds to come from my credit card I must go in and change it.

I hope this helps.

←

I'll remember it for the next time. Thanks a lot.

[B. Goren.]

Every day we learn something……

Here is the solution: My balance is in USD and the transaction I made was in Japanese Yen. If the transaction you are trying to make is not in the same currency as your balance, the money will be drawn from your credit card. If the transaction and the balance are in the same currency, the money will be drawn first from your positive balance.

Good to know.

[J.A.W.]

  B. Goren. said:

Every day we learn something……

Here is the solution: My balance is in USD and the transaction I made was in Japanese Yen. If the transaction you are trying to make is not in the same currency as your balance, the money will be drawn from your credit card. If the transaction and the balance are in the same currency, the money will be drawn first from your positive balance.

Good to know.

←

You can transfer the balance in one currency into a balance in another currency before making any payments.

[B. Goren.]

  J.A.W. said:

  B. Goren. said:

Every day we learn something……

Here is the solution: My balance is in USD and the transaction I made was in Japanese Yen. If the transaction you are trying to make is not in the same currency as your balance, the money will be drawn from your credit card. If the transaction and the balance are in the same currency, the money will be drawn first from your positive balance.

Good to know.

←

You can transfer the balance in one currency into a balance in another currency before making any payments.

←

As I said: Every day I learn something……

Thank you Hans.

[Guest Chaney]

June 20, 2005

Google Said to Plan Rival to PayPal

By SAUL HANSELL. The New York Times

Google is preparing an online-payment system that would compete with PayPal, according to an online retailer who has been approached by Google to take part in the effort.

In addition to representing a direct challenge to eBay, which owns PayPal, the largest Internet payment system, the move signals Google's intention to become much more deeply involved in online commerce.

Google's flagship search engine and its Froogle shopping service are significant sources of customers for Internet stores. But so far, Google's only way to profit from its presence in online shopping is by selling advertisements that appear next to its search results and on Froogle pages.

Google has long been rumored to be developing a classified advertising service, one that would compete with eBay and with the popular free site Craigslist. A payment system would help Google bring into its marketplace individuals and small businesses who are not authorized to accept credit cards online.

Discussion of Google's plans arose on a panel at a conference for investors held last week by Piper Jaffray, and the talks were reported on Friday by the online edition of The Wall Street Journal. Google was not a part of the panel.

The chief executive of a major online merchant not involved in the conference said that his company had been approached by Google to take part in the service. He spoke on the condition that he not be identified because his company had agreed to keep its discussions with Google confidential. Steve Langdon, a Google spokesman, declined to comment.

Scot Wingo, the chief executive of ChannelAdvisor, a company that helps merchants sell on eBay and other online sites, said that several of his clients had told him that they had heard from Google about plans for a payment service, which they referred to as Google Wallet.

Mr. Wingo said in a telephone interview that he had called Google executives to see how his company could support the new service, but that the executives had declined to discuss it with him.

In April, Google filed documents to establish a new corporation in California called the Google Payments Corporation, a development first published by SearchEngineWatch, an online newsletter.

Sara Bettencourt, a spokeswoman for PayPal, said that her company had heard rumors of a pending Google payment service but that it would not comment on a product that had yet to be announced.

PayPal has 72 million accounts and handled $6.2 billion in payments in the first quarter.

One question about the prospective Google service is how ambitious it will be.

Yahoo, Amazon, Microsoft and other companies offer "wallet" services where users can store credit card numbers for use while shopping at participating merchants. Such services aim to save time for users and help them feel secure because they need not provide financial information to an unknown merchant.

PayPal also allows such credit card purchases, and it also gives each user an account into which they can deposit and withdraw money by way of electronic transfers to bank accounts. This allows PayPal to be used to send money between individuals.

Mr. Wingo said that merchants had told him that Google's system was intended to rival the broad scope of PayPal rather than the narrow wallet systems.

The prospect of a payment system could help Google's core search advertising business as well, online commerce analysts said. Google has a rich trove of data about what people are searching for and what Web sites they click. Data about what people actually purchase could help it fine-tune its site to offer more effective advertisements.

Some merchants wonder what Google could offer that would make its service more attractive than their own credit card systems.

"I have nothing bad to say about Google, but I don't see what the advantage would be," said Michael Golden, chief executive of Homeclick.com, an online store. He said he had not been approached by Google to discuss its plans.

He said he accepted PayPal only for the part of his business that conducts auctions on eBay, but not on the rest of his site. For those customers who do not want to use credit cards, there are other options, he said, like a private-label credit card that Homeclick offers in conjunction with Wells Fargo Bank.

But others suggested that just as eBay can promote PayPal, Google's vast reach and reputation with consumers may well be able to promote its service. Google could, for example, place an icon on advertisements, or listings on Froogle, indicating that certain stores accepted its payment system. This could be enough to get merchants to take part.

Google has often given away some products that others charged money for in order to build traffic to its site. For example, its free Gmail service offers 2 gigabytes of storage, a level most other companies charge fees for. And Froogle does not charge merchants to list their products, as does Yahoo and other shopping services.

Some e-commerce analysts suggested that Google could well offer free or discounted payment services in order to expand its transaction business. Or it could offer its classified listings free, as Craigslist does, hoping to make money on payment transaction fees.

[B. Goren.]

We can only benefit from the competition.