paypal pains

apalmy started this discussion · 1/2/2014

So ive been saving up in my paypal account for lessons. I have $85 and since they are currently on sale for 79 I figured everything would go smoothly. But it keeps asking me to link a credit card to my paypal accout. This is something I refuse to do. Ive had a previous bad experience with ebay and well just look at target. So how do I get around this need for a credit card before the sale ends. I know this has been posted before but my search skills leave a lotto be desired.

10 replies

Webmaster · 1/2/2014
The one thing you can do is to get a prepaid Visa card and link that to your account. However... As horrible and prominent as the media makes credit card and identity theft out to be it is actually less prominent than it used to be. In the days of checks and imprint credit card machines it was easy to steal and use someone's financial information, and get away with it for 30 days, which is how long it used to take for charges to hit your account. Now the digital world allows us to know in minutes if our accounts are being fraudulently accessed, so it has become much harder for people to use illicitly attained information. After the target issue I received emails from all my cards and paypal informing me of the cards that had been used at Target within the time period of concern and the associated charges. The connected world has been a real boon for our financial security and not the fearful world that people want you to believe it is.
chemgoddess1 · 1/2/2014
Both my husband and I have had our debit card compromised in the last 2 years, his just a few weeks back. The bank shut down our cards immediately and contacted us. Once we spoke to the bank they immediately put the money back into our account. I can't tell you how many times we have had credit cards reissued by the bank because there was an internal breech. For me it is just an inconvenience. I just assume that at least once a year one of our accounts will be compromised.
chemgoddess1 · 1/2/2014
As for ebay, even those issues have gone away. The process takes a bit (a few weeks) but I have not gotten stiffed by a buyer or seller as I had in the past.
adAstra · 1/2/2014
I agree, there is a lot of media hype playing into those fears. I have a Target card and was not one of those compromised; they let all cardholders know that we would not be responsible for any fraudulent charges and anyone affected would have a year of free credit monitoring. Like Webmaster I also got an email from PayPal reminding me of their layers of protection. So it is not even close to as bad as the media is making it out to be. If you are still iffy about it could you link the card, complete the transaction, and then unlink it?
grayeyes · 1/2/2014
I've had a credit card linked to my ebay account for years without any problem. I do not link my checking account to PayPal as they would like me to do. I think the credit card is safer than linking my personal bank accounts.
paintilady · 1/3/2014
Interesting that they ask you to link a credit card, I thought Pay Pal was really an option for those wishing to use their bank account instead of a credit card. What happens if you do not own credit cards? I currently have no credit cards linked to my Pay Pal account, but then I 've had it for years.
IchigoMewMew · 1/4/2014
I didn't think it was compulsary, as far as I understand its a back up in case you don't have enough money in your primary account. That was quite a few years ago though when I signed up
Webmaster · 1/4/2014
Paypal ties several different payment methods together. As a merchant we can choose which payment methods to accept. Many merchants no longer accept bank account payments due to the fact that they can take up to 14 days to clear, and have a high rate of failure (near 50%).
apalmy · 1/4/2014
Webby you mentioned being able to tie a prepaid card to my paypal to resolve this issue. Do You Know What Amount THE Prepaid Card Needs To be. Thanks for all the assistance.
Webmaster · 1/4/2014
apalmy - that would be a question you would have to ask PayPal. As a merchant we allow payment via PayPal balance and credit card through PayPal, so if they are requiring the attachment of a credit card in order to pay regardless of you having more than enough to pay, they must have another requirement of you beyond the payment types we have allowed.