Quote: Original post by eedok

Quote: Original post by BeanDog
I had several thousand dollars in revenue frozen for months by PayPal last year. That's why I jumped ship to Amazon Payments, which has been ludicrously better than PayPal in every imaginable way.

Too bad you can't use it in when you're outside the states like this developer

Seen this story on several sites, and it's annoying how many posts are he wouldn't have this problem if he used {paypal alternative only available in the US and/or possibly the UK}

Paypal's international competition is near non-existent

We get about as many payments from outside the US as from inside it. We just can't use foreign currencies, meaning I have to bill in USD instead of Euros, etc.

yea that's nice and all, but you can't sign up as a merchant for amazon payments unless you're from the US

Yeah, the Amazon service isn't available outside of the USA for merchants, although you can definitely pay from outside the USA.

I guess Google Checkout would work but that's pretty new. Nope, for some reason Google Checkout (or at least the Android Market) only supports selling applications from a handful of European countries and the States.

From what I understand, when you get into the money transfer business, there's lots of laws and regulations that you're subject to. I think it was some sort of response to money laundering. Like, the average person doesn't transfer 10s of thousands of dollars so they must be doing something suspicious and the government needs to keep an eye on them. And if funds are going accross borders... well, we all know what world we live in now.

Quote: Original post by kseh
From what I understand, when you get into the money transfer business, there's lots of laws and regulations that you're subject to.

Yet banks do not arbitrarily freeze and withold accounts without being subject to lawsuits or found in violation of those very regulations.

Quote: I think it was some sort of response to money laundering.

Yes, money laundering happens. This is the risk banks must take into account. Just like doctors need to take into account being a higher risk for infectious disease.

Quote: Like, the average person doesn't transfer 10s of thousands of dollars so they must be doing something suspicious and the government needs to keep an eye on them.

Banks and governments have very clear statements on what constitutes a regulation. Such as, "any transfer over $9999.99 will be submitted to tax agency." They cannot freeze an account without legal subpoena.

Imagine - small bank with $500 billion in accounts decides to freeze that money for 2 weeks with no explanation. Why not? For them, the interest on such sum would exceed the GDP of most countries.

2 years ago, two measly banks decided to withhold the money. Anyone remembers what happened? The mechanics were different, but the concept was exactly the same. People put X amount into a bank, and expected to be able to withdraw X amount some time later - it was on their accounts. When the time for payout came, the bank said: sorry, we can't pay you out.

And suddenly trillions of dollars vanished worldwide.

Quote: And if funds are going accross borders... well, we all know what world we live in now.

A world where physical borders are absolete, where even penniless startups employ global workforce and where mobility is a daily fact of life since people are always in close proximity regardless of physical distance?

Quote: Original post by kseh
From what I understand, when you get into the money transfer business, there's lots of laws and regulations that you're subject to. I think it was some sort of response to money laundering. Like, the average person doesn't transfer 10s of thousands of dollars so they must be doing something suspicious and the government needs to keep an eye on them. And if funds are going accross borders... well, we all know what world we live in now.

There are regulations in place to handle money laundering. It involves placing a hold on any fund transfers exceeding $10000 and reporting the transfer to a relevant agency (I forget which one). The caveat here is that they don't arbitrarily hold your money for weeks at a time, and they will finish the transfer after a day or two. They will not freeze your entire account for suspicious activity (unless the police have already gotten involved).

Again, PayPal is not a bank. The fact that they try to get you to agree to binding arbitration is a huge red flag.

I do have a PayPal account, because it can be difficult to make transactions with small businesses and individuals online without it, but I use it sparingly.

Quote: Original post by Rycross

Again, PayPal is not a bank.

They are in Europe.

Quote: Original post by Antheus
They are in Europe.

Are they regulated as one in Europe? (Serious question, I actually don't know.)

Quote: Original post by Rycross

Quote: Original post by Antheus
They are in Europe.

Are they regulated as one in Europe? (Serious question, I actually don't know.)

It's in Luxembourg and is regulated by Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier. Info