Upfront Summary: Is PayPal Safe?
Paypal is a safe, legit, and trustworthy online payment service. Paypal is one of the most well-known companies in the world. However, Paypal is only the payment provider, and anybody can use it to make or accept payments, so ensuring the trustworthiness of the other party when payments are involved would also be required. Paypal has an excellent dispute process, they are quick to suspend or ban accounts engaged in illegal activities, and they allow you to see if an account is verified or not. Because of all this, you should feel confident when using Paypal.
Paypal currently has over 403 million active users, all trusting Paypal with their online payments. However, does this mean Paypal is suitable for you? Could somebody scam you or get access to your bank accounts or credit card? We’ve taken an in-depth review of the web to see what people are saying about Paypal. So keep reading to stay informed and make the right decision quickly.
PayPal Company Information
| Official Website: | https://paypal.com |
| Founded: | December 1998 |
| Owner: | Public Company |
| Location: | Worldwide Service |
| Customer Service Contact: | Phone: +1-402-935-2050 Online Support: Help Center |
| Social Media: | Twitter, Instagram, Facebook |
What is PayPal?
PayPal is an online payment processor. They are not selling any products and are simply there to facilitate payments between people. Whether you’re trying to make or accept payments, they have you covered as the middle-man in the transaction, making online transactions more secure and safe. As a buyer, you can fund your purchases with a bank account, debit or credit card, or from a PayPal balance received from other PayPal users.
You could compare PayPal to a bank that doesn’t offer savings accounts. It allows you to send money around the world very quickly, convert currencies, and take payments ad-hoc or through an online store with very minimal effort needed to set up.
>>MORE: Is Booking.com Trusted & Secure? What Is Its Reliability?
How does PayPal work?
Paypal allows you to buy and sell things online, as well as send money to friends and family. PayPal will handle the complexity of processing payments such as taking credit cards. If this isn’t for friends or family, they take a small fee and percentage of the charge, then deposit the rest into the other party’s account.
PayPal allows you to have a single and highly secure payment method. Instead of providing your credit card or banking details to numerous third parties, you provide it once to PayPal, who keep it safe, and then you use PayPal to make purchases. PayPal is also always encrypted when you purchase, which may not be the case for all websites that ask for your credit information. The most significant benefit here is that your credit card or banking information is less likely to be stolen or intercepted online, and you are less likely to have issues.
PayPal also makes it extremely easy for online stores to start accepting payments, including credit cards, which can often be complex. It takes away their need to store this kind of information in their database.
>>MORE: Is Dailymotion Reputable & Safe? Is Everything Lawful?
Is PayPal safe and legit, or is it a scam?
PayPal is safe, legal, and not a scam. They are fully regulated in all countries where they operate and ensure their users are not buying or selling illegal products/services. While they are heavy-handed in suspending accounts, this will also cover accounts trying to scam you.
The chances of being scammed on PayPal are the same as if you used another online payment service or your credit card. It’s still your responsibility to ensure you aren’t buying from a scammer. However, as mentioned, PayPal actively looks for and suspends accounts that may not follow its policies.
Paypal does not contain viruses or malware. Paypal does however share your information with a vast number of other sites for marketing and other purposes; while they aren’t “stealing” your information as you agreed to this, this is hidden in the lengthy agreement you made when first signing up.
Because Paypal is so well known and used by so many people, there are numerous websites out there pretending to be them, and you may even receive emails from somebody pretending to be PayPal. So be vigilant when checking what site you are logging into and which links in emails you are clicking.
>>MORE: Is Kidscasting Reputable & Valuable? Is It a Fraud?
Is PayPal trustworthy and reliable?
Online reviews for PayPal are somewhat inconsistent and depend on what site you are browsing. However, in general, the reviews set them to be 2.5/5. One of the most trusted review sites, which is TrustPilot, has them ranked as 1.2/5. This rating is below what other online payment providers get; however, PayPal has many more customers, some of its competitors have 4 million, where PayPal has 400 million customers. So it’s more likely to get a lot more reviews.
Most of these reviews are not related to PayPal’s reliability but to what customers buy with PayPal. There are no reviews that state PayPal is unreliable or doesn’t work.
PayPal offers buyer protection on certain products if you complain within a specific time. This is what most customers are complaining about. They are unhappy with the result of their dispute with a merchant.
One factor that you should look at is that happy customers generally don’t write reviews, and PayPal has many customers, many more people added daily, and making millions of transactions a day. So that does say that people trust PayPal and that it is reliable, but you need to ensure you don’t buy from untrustworthy merchants or buy things too good to be true.
>>MORE: Is Apex Focus Group Trustworthy & Secure? Is It a Fraud?
PayPal Fees and Costs
As with all payment providers that operate globally, provide numerous services, and allow different currencies to be used, the fee structure can be quite different depending on where you are and what you’re doing. Full details on their fees can be found here: PayPal fees.
- It’s free to send money to family and friends, but fees apply if you fund from Credit Card.
- It’s free to withdraw money to your bank account unless you want it done instantly, and then it may be a percentage of the withdrawal amount.
- It’s free to buy anything in your same currency with your PayPal balance, but funding from a Credit Card has fees.
- Converting between currencies will cost you a percentage.
- Accepting payments will cost you a percentage and a set fee.
Using PayPal is very easy, adding money, converting money, withdrawing money. However, be careful of the fees associated with these quick acts so that you don’t end up spending too much.
>>MORE: Is Chime Safe & Legit? Is It a Fraud?
Does PayPal have good customer service?
With so many customers and handling money, there are many reviews online for customer support; however, the majority state that customer support is not good. Instead, you get canned answers about their policies, or they refuse to answer questions about specific issues you are having.
Most complaints relate to the buyer protection policy. Consumers are unhappy with the products they’ve received or never received them, and customer support does not rule in their favor, so the customer ultimately loses money.
Customers are also complaining of PayPal suspending their accounts with money still being in them and never recovering that money. PayPal uses canned responses and policy details but no specific information when closing accounts. As a result, many customers are left confused and angry about the loss of funds and the inability to accept payments suddenly.
If your question or issue is quick and easy, customer support appears to do a good job.
>>MORE: Is Rotita Trustworthy and Legal? Is It Actually That Reliable?
Does PayPal have a refund policy or buyer protection?
PayPal has a full buyer protection policy and a dispute resolution center when buyer and seller disagree that the transaction was completed successfully.
To take advantage of PayPal’s buyer protection, you need to ensure your account is active, and you must complain within 60 days of fraud and 180 days for other transaction issues for purchase protection. Some types of transactions are not covered, and they are listed in the buyer protection policy linked above.
PayPal will put a hold on the transaction or payout if still pending and investigate with both parties involved.
Just because you complain doesn’t mean you will get a refund, but PayPal will investigate. You also can’t complain to both PayPal and your credit card as that’s considered double-dipping, and PayPal will close the investigation.
>>MORE: Is Lifepoints Reputable and Secure? Is it a scam, or not?
How to delete a PayPal account?
If there are currently any issues, disputes, or pending transactions, you can’t close your account. PayPal doesn’t allow you to delete the account entirely, and there will be a record with PayPal of your transactions.
To close your account:
- Login to PayPal
- Click your name in the top right corner and click Profile Settings
- Click Close account
The pros and cons of PayPal
Pros
- Extremely easy to use and get set up quickly.
- Excellent fraud prevention and help in getting payments back from the dispute resolution center.
- No fees when sending money to friends and family.
- Easily convert currency in your account.
Cons
- PayPal is exceptionally aggressive in suspending accounts and will hold your money until you prove everything you are doing is legit.
- PayPal fees are often higher than competitors.
- No real cryptocurrency support.
>>MORE: Does Unbounce Make Sense? Is It Trustworthy & Legit?
PayPal Careers
Is PayPal a good company to work for?
Based on online reviews, PayPal is an excellent company to work for. They provide a great salary and benefits package, a lot of flexibility on when and how you work—good opportunities for advancement and growing your skills. As with any tech company, it’s fast-paced, so you should want to be in that sort of environment.
Is it difficult to get a job with PayPal?
Getting positions at PayPal is highly competitive; however, if you have the right skill set for what they need, you have a fair shot of getting a job with them.
Best PayPal Alternatives
PayPal and its alternatives make online purchasing possible, allowing you to make and accept payments worldwide without worrying about how to safely transact with people from different countries. If PayPal doesn’t fit your needs, then below is a list of alternatives to use:
>>MORE: Is Uphold Reputable & Safe? Is It Relatively Reliable?
Additional FAQs
What are the risks of using PayPal?
If you are using PayPal outside of their agreement, your account may be suspended, and you could lose the money in the account.
Do you need a bank account to use PayPal?
You do not need a bank account to use PayPal. However, you will need another method of adding money to your PayPal balance.