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by dave

Growth in net penetration had let to phenomenal growth in on-line trade and if experts are to be believed, the trade which has already doubled in past three years, is set to grow at least 7 times in next 5 years or so. To match this growth, there is growing requirement of merchant accounts, credit card processors and payment gateways.

Unfortunately growth is on line trade is matched by corresponding growth of parallel profession of internet-fraudsters. To compound the problem further, the legal infrastructure, in most countries to cope with net frauds is in its infancy. Electronic contracts that have been issued have not tested the judicial waters.

Getting a merchant account is not easy for all. It is an expensive proposition, in terms of initial set up costs to have secured huckster proof network and security levels have to grow to keep pace with growing threat perception.

Then how to evince consumer's interest to transact on the net with a sense of security? You must study the users' opinions and terms of the credit card processors. In fact www.InternetMerchants.info provides summary about various credit card processors. It would be a good idea to check from here.

PayPal
In such cases, PayPal is an easy option. PayPal, having more than 85 million active accounts and presence in more than 55 countries, is a fast, easy, cost effective, trusted and globally preferred method for on line shopping. It is practically having a merchant account, credit card processor and payment gateway all rolled in one. No recurring fees, free anti fraud tools, no set up or gateway fees, free merchant and eBay tools and with transaction fees starting from zero, for small merchants PayPal does offer a virtual merchant account at a fraction of the cost. Though for small customers, its rates may seem higher, but for high volumes customers, it can be cheaper by about 10% than merchant account. For example, for a merchant with turnover of $1 million thru PayPal, while its standard merchant fees could be $29,520, including various annual charges, PayPal charges would be $26,550.

PayPal - A Good Solution for Small and Medium Businessmen and Professionals
With PayPal, you need not have any web site, payments can be received using email account, and even your customers need not have a PayPal account.

If you are auctioning some thing on line, PayPal can take care of automatically notifying the winning buyer of ending of listing with back link to listed item. PayPal also takes care of your shipping needs. It offers you tools to calculate shipping costs, create shipping labels, track delivery, pay for insurance for shipped items etc.

PayPal has also tied up with Yahoo and you can now build, set up and manage your own e-commerce web site using Yahoo Merchant Solutions including site-building tools, easy tools to manage your orders and inventory, and much more.

PayPal also helps you fight unjust charge backs by buyers.

Restrictions to Accept PayPal
PayPal has some restrictions on items that can be traded using it as the sale of counterfeit items, gambling activities, child pornography etc.

Paypal is ideal for buyers too.

Sending Money
Sending money trough PayPal is easy. Money can be sent, free of cost, to recipient in 55 countries, where PayPal is being accepted in US / Canadian / Australian dollar, Pound sterling, Yen or Euro.

It Helps You Earn from Referrals Too
PayPal also helps you earn money by referring it to your friends. You can put a referral link in your email or web site and each time a merchant signs up for a new PayPal business/premier account through it, you can get commission of 0.5% of payment value limited to $1,000.

Safety Measures
Working with more than 1000 employees, and using encryption and CVV2 checks, PayPal has strong protection system to prevent identity theft and it claims 100% protection against unauthorized payments. PayPal also offers you to install a safety bar free for a month to safeguard against spam and malicious emails purported to be through PayPal account, but after initial period of one month, you will have to pay for it. Should you enter a dispute with seller regarding quality or content of goods, you can approach dispute resolution specialists with PayPal. PayPal has also acquired Verisign Payment Services and has added industry's leading tools for payment protection.

PayPal has Its Critics Too
Though, PayPal has loss rate of less than 0.5% which is remarkably down when compared with Master Card or Visa, PayPal has good number of critics as well. Major reason for the grouse is that with PayPal you lose your rights under consumer protection laws. PayPal would not allow you to issue charge back in case any unauthorized activity happens from your credit card or PayPal account. They also complain that PayPal has inserted a term to take funds form your bank account to ensure a recovery against you.

Worst charge against it is that if someone pays you with a stolen credit card, your account is immediately flagged as being "criminal behavior" and any money in that account is confiscated!

In fact in a lengthy public trial, PayPal opted to settle out of court and pay $9.25 million and walk away from the entire allegation as it feared that judgment may force it to change its questionable practices.

Allegations and critics notwithstanding, it is a fact that PayPal has become a global leader in online payment solutions worldwide. With its renewed focus on customer satisfaction, it should be able to regain its lost ground.

Fraudsters on net abound. In case, you are victim of any such card processor, you must immediately take some steps, before it is too late. You can check http://www.InternetMerchants.info/complainant-guide.html for these steps, these should help.

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About the Author:

R.S. Chawla owns http://www.b2bLounge.com - Global Online Trading and is Professional Accountant from India, now settled in Canada and recommends that you visit www.InternetMerchants.info for more information on PayPal and other payment systems.

Article Source: www.articlecube.com