I assume that almost all of you have heard of PayPal and RBI fiasco. All Indian PayPal users received mails last night stating :
“In order to comply with the RBI Guidelines, our user agreement in India will be amended for the following services as follows:
- Any balance in and all future payments into your PayPal account may not be used to buy goods or services and must be transferred to your bank account in India within 7 days from the receipt of confirmation from the buyer in respect of the goods or services; and
- Export-related payments for goods and services into your PayPal account may not exceed US$500 per transaction.”
Well all this had to happen one day as PayPal was not complying with RBI guidelines that :
- Any company keeping money for more than 7 days have to pay interest and should be treated like a bank.
- Any transaction which bring money more than $500 at one go, should be reported to RBI.
To learn more on this issue you can read this: PayPal Team Shocked Indian Freelancers with New Rules
Well I do not really think that PayPal and RBI would come out with a solution to this issue and it is better for us to start looking for some alternatives to PayPal rather then waiting for things to turn out good some day.
I searched on internet on some alternatives of PayPal and this is what I found. Do let me know your views on this issue and also the services that I am listing below :-
Google Checkout
Google Checkout is Google’s attempt at a replacement for PayPal, and is still very much an inferior product. As for the actual transaction costs, they have completely mimicked the tiered cost structure of PayPal, as low as 1.4% + £0.20 per transaction, but as high as 3.4% + £0.20 depending on your monthly sales volume. further details can be found on pricing here .
Alert Pay
AlertPay is a PayPal alternative for the less mainstream merchants. AlertPay is focused around the idea that some clients need more time and attention when it comes to payments. Personal accounts are designed for the internet beginners as well as the regular online shopper or seller.
Money Bookers
Money Bookers is a UK based company, and is Authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority of the United Kingdom (FSA). They offer a number of benefits including sending money securely worldwide to anyone with an email address – even if the recipient does not have a Moneybookers account yet, and accept business from lots of different currencies. January 2010 they were reporting a user base of 10.8 million accounts.
Pay Pay
PayPay could is a dent in some of PayPal’s business. PayPay lets users send and receive money using their PayPay accounts (even receive through email, SMS, bank accounts, online or through payment buttons).
Obo Pay
Obopay is one of the first mobile payment systems to make it to the web, enabling customers to transfer money to one another right from the mobile phone. Technically this is achieved using a combination of the technologies offered on mobile devices – traditional SMS, WAP, HTML / Web apps and bespoke iPhone applications – allowing them to cover all bases regardless of the handset capabilities.
Xoom
They have the least no. of hassles in getting the money. You don’t need to signup to transfer money. They do charge bit-more than Moneybookers, AlertPay, etc on transactions, but still 80% more affordable than Western Union.
Some other PayPal Alternatives are :-
- Neteller
- CCNow
- DirecPay – Really good for Indians
- StrictPay
- Liberty Reserve
- Perfect Money
Have you used any of these
PayPal Alternatives
? Do share your views on this
