PayPal -- was "Ideas for my site/workbook"

From: Davids (nowhere_at_nowthere.com)
Date: 08/02/04 

Date: Mon, 02 Aug 2004 13:29:04 -0700

"Brion L. Webster" wrote:

> Xavier Pacheco wrote:
>
> > I think I'd be much simpler for getting payment I'll just
> > use paypal.
>
> Paypal has other issues - like do I really trust eBay? And it's
> another barrier to entry - do I have a Paypal account already? I
> suppose you can write a script to submit charges to Paypal just as
> easily as to Visa.
>

Logically speaking, given the choice between disclosing sensitive credit card
and other financial data to one vendor rather than ten, then using a publically
accessible key (your email address) to share monies securely, this would seem to
be a "no-brainer".

Statistically, it reduces the risk of identity theft and fraud by an order of
magnitude.

Virtually every vendor you purchase something from on-line requires you to set
up an account with them.

So why is setting up a PayPal account ONCE perceived as such a barrier, when it
reduces risk of on-line fraud so much?

I'm asking this because it is such a common objection to the use of PayPal. I
*PREFER* PayPal simply because of the reduced risk it presents in the context of
on-line purchases.

Credit card vendors might limit my financial exposure (after a bit of a fight to
justify that I was, in fact, defrauded). But they don't offer a penny of
compensation to fix the bigger problem of identity theft when it happens, which
ain't free or even cheap!

-David

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