Hi, Everyone…
Today I want to talk about options to the payment gateway PayPal, ones you can use in lieu of or in addition to PayPal, and why you need to think about all this now. This is an issue that has come up recently when some of the big-time marketers have had their PayPal accounts shut down for apparently no reason.
Many people in the online business may not be selling online, perhaps they are doing affiliate marketing. For even these people I would recommend reading through this post, as you need to be aware of what is going on. It affects you as well.
I will start out with the background of payment gateways, what they are used for, then move on to the options that are available. PayPal has been the standard for so long that it is widely used and accepted by people who buy online. They have become used to it.
What Are Payment Gateways?
Table of Contents
These are the secure sites that are PCI compliant and secure (meaning they are set up with additional security measure to protect sensitive data from buyers such as credit card information, access to bank accounts, and other personal details).
Many online marketers use them, as it can be quite expensive to set up your own gateway. It is easier to use a ready-made solution that you can simply plug-in and take payments with. This comes at a cost, of course, as it is expensive to provide this security (and the companies providing this have to make a profit too).
The gold standard for years has been PayPal. It is what most online marketers have used with few problems, until recently. Apparently, PayPal has been tightening their standards when it comes to the kind of business they want to provide service for.
Here are some of the services you can use with PayPal that make it such an attractive option for so many and also why it has become so popular:
- It allows fast secure payment processing, both in-person and online
- There is very transparent pricing and it starts as low as 2.7%
- You can process mass payments of up to 5,000 payments at one time
- There is a customizable invoicing tool and the charge is 2.9% + $0.30, incurred by invoicer
- You have an API for integrations if you need it for software development
- E-Marketers use the gateways for their e-commerce businesses
Why Should We All Care?
As you may have heard, there have been some major scandals recently with unscrupulous online marketers scamming people in a major way. Millions of dollars have been milked from unsuspecting people that are promised one thing, but get something entirely different once they pay.
This is not the focus of today’s post, but it is worth having a look at if you have time. It seems that many regulatory entities are paying attention more now than ever to scammers. That is not necessarily a bad thing. Sales pages are being looked at, false or fake claims are being questioned, and accounts are getting shut down.
For the overall market, that is all a good thing. It will help clean up the sometimes dirty making money online segment of the market. I support that move, as these people give ethical marketers a bad reputation, and undeservedly so.
Unfortunately, there are some ethical vendors that are getting caught up in this stricter enforcement. They may have reviewers looking at their sales pages or offers with a jaundiced eye, who then make recommendations to the management and voila, your business is shut down.
What Are Other Options To PayPal?
Many innovations and advances in the payment gateway market mean that as comfortable as it was and is using a familiar gateway like Paypal, common sense says that you need to have a viable backup to PayPal. If you do not you will end up losing all your business if you unexpectedly or for no reason lose access to your PayPal account.
This has happened to more than a few marketers that I personally know who are selling massive quantities of product through the major affiliate platforms like JVZoo, Warrior Plus, or similar. When they get shut down by Paypal, it can cause major headaches fast.
Not only does PayPal hold your money for up to 6 months, but they can also block you for life from ever using the platform again for your business. This is devastating of course, and those affected often had no alternative in place for accepting money. Their business was dead in the water.
If you are an affiliate, this means that you will likely not get paid commissions due without a long delay if ever. Most businesses will go broke over a 6 month period with no ability to access their money nor any means to take payments. I am waiting on $80 for over a year now and likely will never get paid. It happens.
UPDATE: From the Facebook Private Group, here is a bit of advice for those you may have had their PayPal account shut down for what they think is no valid reason:
“Hello, Guys,
for those who got their PAYPAL Account shut down, I’d like to share an Email with a guide I just found these days in my inbox. I hope that helps you out.
Here is the full email I got:
“Have you been affected by the 2018/2019 PayPal purge
as well?
If you have been, then I am sure you will be interested to hear that there is a possible solution for you.
As hundreds, if not thousands of other Internet Marketers, I also got hit by the PayPal purge. In the middle of December 2018, my two PayPal accounts (2 business entities) both got a permanent account suspension with just vague information on why it happened.
But just 9 days later (shortly after Christmas), both accounts were reinstated and I was again able to send and
receive payments as well as access the funds I was told are frozen for 180 days, just 9 days before.
How did I do it? Did the same approach work for others? What other options are there if you either can’t get the account back or simply have enough of ever dealing with
PayPal again?
Let me share with you the exact steps I took to get my PayPal accounts back. These steps where then also used
by a former business partner of mine who woke up one morning just to see that his four PayPal account where
all permanently suspended. He got all his accounts back as well, after just a few days.
These are the 14 steps that we followed…
1. Call PayPal… email alone will not get you anywhere.
2. Mention that you didn’t break any of their terms or
conditions or AUP since you opened your PayPal account
in ####. Obviously… make sure you didn’t! Read their
terms and AUP first.
3. Ask them: How can I help you clear up this
misunderstanding? Most suspended accounts in this purge
seem to simply be found guilty by association or guilty
until proven innocent. So, if you don’t get from PayPal
the exact reason why your account was suspended and the
reason they give is unclear (as with the big majority
that was affected), offer to help them resolve this
misunderstanding.
4. Your PayPal account manager will at this point hopefully
escalate your case to the Risk Management department.
If he doesn’t right away, keep talking with him. Ask
questions about the exact reason why your account was
suspended. Point out how this negatively affects your
business and how you will gladly help PayPal to resolve
this misunderstanding.
5. The Risk Management department will tell you what
information or documents they want from you. In my
case, they asked for Business Plans for each of the
websites I use PayPal on. If they ask you for the
same, but don’t own web site, but earn your money as
an affiliate marketer, provide them with a list of the
site you currently promote, what products they offer,
their compensation plan (should only be commissions on
personally referred sales as PayPal tends to be allergic
to anything that sounds like MLM) and mention that you
will gladly stop promoting any site that PayPal doesn’t
allow you to promote.
6. Provide all requested details and documents via email
and also in the PayPal area if they ask for them there
as well.
7. Wait 15 minute, then follow up with a phone call.
8. Ask if they received the details and documents you
provided to them as requested.
9. Ask them: Is there anything else I can help you with
to speed up the process of clearing up this
misunderstanding? Also, ask them how many days to
wait before following up with them on this issue.
10. Wait for them to remove your account limitation or
to contact you to request more information or
documents. If they ask for more details, loop back
to step #6.
11. If they remove your account limitation, skip to step #15.
12. If they don’t remove your account limitation nor
reply to you within 2-3 business days (or longer
if they told you it will take longer), call them
again.
13. Ask them: Is there anything else I can help you with
to speed up the process to clear up this
misunderstanding?
14. Loop to step #10.
15. Congratulations, you got your PayPal account back. 
I hope you get your PayPal account back as well. If not,
or if you simply had enough of ever dealing with PayPal
again, there is another option.
Let me introduce you to… ORU Market!
They allow you to sell products to your customers in USD
with no fees. Your customers can fund their ORU account
with PayPal, Credit or Debit cards, so you don’t have to
have your own PayPal or merchant account. You can also
pay your affiliates in USD using ORU Pay. And all ORU
members can spend their funds or get cash at ATM’s worldwide
using the ORU Prepaid Visa Card. ORU is available in 96
countries for a one-time activation fee of $24.99 to get
your Prepaid Visa card shipped and just $5.95/mth.
Why would you pay $5.95 a month for the ORU Payment
System?
Think about it. How much in fees did you or are you
paying PayPal everytime you bought or buy something?
And how much in fees did you or are you paying to PayPal
when you received any money?
For me, it is way more than $5.95 a month! And you paid
PayPal month after month and year after year only to be
treated so badly!
– ORU has no fees for buying or selling.
– ORU has no chargebacks and disputes.
– ORU does not Limit or Freeze your account.
Check out ORU right now and I am sure you will also like what you see. “
Hope that helps you out Tom Yevsikov.
Have a great weekend
Stefan”
Tom is a well-known person in the IM market, so this seems like some pretty solid advice. BUT, I would nonetheless look at alternatives, because you may not have the same outcome as Tom had. He obviously had paperwork ready and was willing to go that extra mile (lots of calls and following up)…
This checklist may be handy for you to pass on to any vendors who have had their account shut down and cannot pay you. It is worth a shot, you don’t want to lose money as I have, even if it is only $80, like me! The procedure seems simple enough, if a pain to go through…
But, this brings us back to having a solution while this process in underway. Who knows how much business you will lose while the above happens, and what about the customers who are not being taken care of (and affiliates if you are working with them)?
Alternatives to PayPal…
There are many, and JVZoo and Warrior Plus have both reacted to this tightening of the standards by PayPal by developing options that work through their platform.
In the case of Warrior Plus, they have designed a virtual wallet that you can add payments to, and in the case of JVZoo, they have just announced a working relationship with a gateway called Zift.
These two major platforms have reacted on behalf of the many vendors that have had their PayPal accounts closed arbitrarily. This is a fine example of adapting to a changing market.
It is what we all must do as online marketers. Whether it is Google with their crackdowns on search engine manipulation or whether it is the move from offline to online shopping, or the growing power of social platforms, we have to adapt or perish.
Here are some viable alternatives that you can consider in addition to Paypal:
(1) Google Wallet
Google Wallet is an app and web platform that allows users to send and receive money using their email address and phone number. You can connect the service directly to your bank account and also use it to track your expenses and payments over time. Although this is not a service that has been around for a long period of time, it is becoming more widely used.
(2) Stripe
Stripe is a software platform that allows you to accept credit card payments online. But the tools are also flexible so you can set them up to accept subscription payments or make it fit with the specific needs of your business. It is one of the best known and most used options by online marketers.
(3) Venmo
Venmo has become a popular platform for individuals looking to send money and share expenses. But it can also have business applications for those who want to make it easier for customers on mobile devices and social media apps to make purchases using Venmo. For mobile shoppers, I have seen this requested as a payment gateway quite often (I operate online e-commerce stores).
(4) Amazon Payments
Amazon Payments gives online merchants a way to accept payments through Amazon’s online platform. So for customers who have payment information saved on their Amazon account, they can really easily just log in and use that same payment method in other stores that use the platform. This is providing convenience to the shoppers and it is all about the user experience. If you are selling on Amazon, I recommend you consider adding this payment gateway.
(5) Square
Square is perhaps best known for it’s POS system for businesses that need to accept credit card payments in person. You may have heard of them from other offline business owners in this regard. But they also offer payment tools for e-commerce and appointment-based business owners. Processing fees start at 2.75 percent per transaction, competitive to other gateways.
(6) Payline
Payline is a gateway that can provide different options for payment via mobile, online, or in-store purchases. Fees start at 20 cents per transaction plus 5 percent overall. They have a good reputation in the market and the fees are reasonable.
(7) Payza
Payza is a payment platform that I have worked with and it does the job well. It allows you to accept credit cards, pay via bank accounts (ACH), or even using Bitcoin. The platform supports e-commerce businesses and even offers a Payza card to make purchasing even easier for customers. Accounts and sending money are free. And there are minimal transaction and Bitcoin processing fees. This is an option I am trying now, and so far it is working well.
(8) Skrill
Skrill is a digital payment platform that is especially suited for online merchants, app developers, and even game creators who need to accept payments via mobile or on a laptop. It has a good reputation and reasonable fees.
(9) WePay
WePay is an integrated payment platform that can help you accept payments from customers, send invoices and even manage things like marketing automation. It also is being used by such sites as GoFundMe and is backed by Chase Bank I think.
(10) Authorize.net
Authorize.net is another payment gateway that I have heard many online marketers are using. I have not tried it but their reputation is good. They provide payment processing for businesses that are selling in stores, online or on a remote site. Their pricing starts at 2.9 percent plus 30 cents per transaction. Again, these rates are competitive.
(11) Intuit
QuickBooks from Intuit includes as a part of their package a platform where businesses can send invoices and accept payments from anywhere. Their fees start at 25 cents per transaction plus 2.4 percent. I have just started with QuickBooks for our new LLC, so I will be tapping into this service, the rates are competitive and the convenience is there for us.
(12) Shopify Payments
Shopify Payments is a platform you can tap into if you run a Shopify e-commerce store. The company also has a POS system for those businesses that may need to accept payments in person as well. There are any number of occasions when this may be required, so that is a good feature. Their rates are competitive from what I have seem (I have one Shopify store).
(13) ProPay
ProPay is a payment gateway that caters to everyone from a small business such as mine to large enterprise businesses. They support transactions for credit cards, bank transfers, mobile payments and more. Very versatile platform and used by many. I have heard good things, but have not tried it myself.
(14) Worldpay
Worldpay is a global payment platform and it allows you to accept payments both online and face to face. The company deals with many forms of currency and offers specialized data and optimization tools. I have an account but have not started to use it much as of now.
(15) Charge.com
Charge.com is a platform to consider as it has no setup fees nor contracts. You can accept payment via credit card both online and in bricks and mortar stores. I do not know much about this one, but it may be worth checking out as there are no setup fees.
(16) 2Checkout
2Checkout is another payment gateway that I have heard many online marketers talk about. It offers a mobile-friendly hosted checkout process and has advanced security plus gives you a global reach. Pricing for the service starts at 2.9 percent and 30 cents per transaction. This is perfect for companies such as myself where we are selling globally.
(17) Popmoney
Popmoney is a service that provides sending, requesting, or receiving of money either online or via your mobile device. For online businesses, this is a tool that works best with a company or client you have regular transactions with. The service has straightforward pricing at 95 cents per transaction. This can save you money over time especially if you are doing a lot of transactions, i.e. with a manufacturer that you may be working with.
(18) Paymate
Paymate’s is a merchant service and it allows businesses to accept the normal credit card payments either online, in person, or over the phone. you can do these transactions in multiple currencies and they also have support and dispute resolution services. Depending on your requirements, this may be of interest.
(19) Payoneer
Payoneer is another well-known gateway in the online marketing circles. They specialize in enabling international money transfers, but you can also use them to bill customers, complete bank transfers and even manage your accounts. It has a good reputation with marketers.
(20) Dwolla
Dwolla is more of interest if you want to develop your own application for payments. They have an API that is easy to work with and you can create your own solutions for bank transfers, purchases, and taking care of customers. Their interface quickly facilitates transfers or you can integrate their API. For small businesses like mine, this is more complex than what I want to deal with. I would rather outsource a solution and pay for it. There are some businesses that would find this useful, however.
(21) Braintree
Braintree is really a subsidiary of PayPal and the features are similar. It provides a platform for businesses to accept, process and split payments. They have different solutions available depending on your business, and they also support marketplace and direct services. Their reputation is good with the online marketers I have talked to. I have not tried them.
(22) Paysera
Paysera is a gateway that offers cheap money transfers for businesses and also is a platform to accept online plus mobile payments. There is no cost to register and merchants who use the platform just pay fees for the services they use, i.e. checkout, e-banking, and the like. I do not know much about them, but they do not have a bad reputation with online marketers, so good by virtue of not being bad, I guess.
(23) PayLane
PayLane is a payment solution specifically for SaaS and e-commerce businesses. The platform allows businesses to accept payments in many different formats and currencies. It might be ideal for a membership site, for instance, or perhaps an online niche store would find this platform useful.
(24) Wirecard
Wirecard is another payment gateway that offers end-to-end payment solutions. It is used by merchants and other types of businesses mainly for payment processing, mobile payment solutions, controlling risk and more. I cannot say much about this gateway, I have not heard anything negative but know of no online marketer in my circle that is using the platform.
(25) BlueSnap
BlueSnap is a gateway that I also have heard feedback from marketers on. Mainly positive experiences, they offer payment processing for online stores plus they also deal in web and mobile app development. Customers can pay using credit cards, ACH bank transfers, or even via online accounts like PayPal.
(26) Merchant Inc
Merchant Inc is another gateway that I know little about. From their website, I know they do credit card processing for businesses accepting payments online, in person, or even over the phone. Their charges are 1.99 percent plus 25 cents per transaction. The prices are very competitive.
(27) Selz
Selz gateway will allow businesses to process customer payments either from online stores or through the social media platforms. The site also allows you to set up an online storefront or sell products on social media. When you sell, the payments are processed through Selz Pay, or customers can pay with other payment platforms that Selz is compatible with, and one of these is PayPal.
(28) Viewpost
Viewpost is a solution that allows you to send invoices, securely accept payments and manage cash flow. Businesses can accept electronic payments for free. And the business charges small fees for sending payments and other actions.
(29) Fastspring
Fastspring is one gateway that I had not heard of, although it offers similar solutions such as payments online or within apps. They have a pay-as-you-go plan plus more robust business plans with a flat monthly fee that starts at $199 per month. Not cheap, but in the end, it depends on what your needs are.
(30) Avangate
Avangate is one more that online marketers I have talked to use. I have not tried it, but it does get high marks from these others. The solutions they offer focus on software developers and pricing depends on your selected plan and whatever the specific needs are for your business.
There are more, I have listed just 30!
What Do I Do Now?
The thing is BEFORE you get cut off by Paypal for any reason at all, and your entire business is in jeopardy, you need to get some alternative payment gateway in place. If you are selling via the major platforms, make sure to push them to offer more options than one.
PayPal has been the standard for years, but things are changing, Adapt or perish is what we used to say in the military, and this holds true for your online business as well! Please add in any thoughts you may have about this post below in the comment section.
Cheers!
Dave : )
I’ve used PayPal for many years for personal uses and never had any real issues with it, but after reading your article I am slightly concerned that they could cut me off at any time. In theory they could ruin someone’s business in a matter of minutes?!
From your own experience is there a particular alternative that you personally enjoy using, or have positive feedback on?
Hello, Robert…
Yes, there have been instances, more often lately, where reputable online marketers having products they sell on JVZoo, Warrior Plus, or PayKickStart, etc. have had their account closed for no apparent reason. They do not give a reason, but the suspicion is that it has to do with the sales pages and the copy they are using.
The offer may be above-board, but the manner in which the pitch is made is apparently being scrutinized more closely than in the past. This may be due to the involvement of PayPal being used for scams that have been shit down by the FTC. Now everyone is vulnerable, ethical marketers included.
I was so surprised at the number of vendors that have NO options in place. At times, it can come down to where you are operating from, Depending on the region and country, you are perceived as being more of a risk, no matter if you are operating through a large platform like JVZoo or elsewhere.
This is why this topic has become a hot topic. The time to implement an alternative is BEFORE this happens. Not only that, the many new payment gateways that are available tap into the shopping habits of people online and the gateways they use.
I am trying different solutions out now. We have just opened a new LLC in the USA and will be trying the QuickBooks platform plus several others like Stripe in addition to maintaining our PayPal accounts. It certainly is a scary time for some marketers having bases in countries considered to be more risky, although nobody knows what the algorithms may be that they use to red flag accounts…
Even as an affiliate this can affect you, so look before you decide to promote a product. Check for the vendor’s business location, check to see that they have a registered company, and who the owners are, etc. I am glad you asked this question, it has given me the opportunity to add to the content. This bit is for affiliate marketers!
Cheers!
Dave
Hi Dave – thanks for sharing this interesting article. I have never really thought about alternatives to PayPal, it is so ingrained into today’s’ culture. That is a pretty scary scenario you have described, about losing commissions as an affiliate if the platform is shut down. I can’t believe how many alternatives there are. To be honest, the only reason I use PayPal is that it is, of course, a done deal as regards eBay. It’s certainly worth looking into the alternatives, for other areas of my life. All the best, Diane
Hi, Diane…
Yes, this PayPal issue has risen to new levels recently. There has always been the terms and conditions that are written in a way that can be used to shut down a user for reasons that they may never discover – they will often not give the exact reason, rather quote the general terms as reasons.
I believe there are several forces at work here. First, the scams involving online marketers have sullied the marketing segment, likely PayPal was involved, and Governments all over are tightening up controls on the flows of money across the globe.
With all this, the move was made to protect the brand and therefore algorithms created to spot any potential exposure, plus a task force to look deeper into where payments were coming from. Those marketers claiming questionable profits or using fake testimonials etc. were dropped.
It affects us all whether we are into the affiliate marketing or whether we are selling products and services. My basic guidance for vendors would be not to sell fake products nor make fake claims. If you operate ethically, you should be okay 90% of the time.
Since this deep-look from PayPal into your sales pages, etc. is a subjective check, even if you are reputable and not cheating people, you could get caught up in this wave of closing accounts. It can happen. By taking steps now to have an alternate payment gateway in place, you will not be dead in the water with your business.
Cheers!
Dave : )
I must say it’s a little worrying to hear that certain online marketers have had their paypal accounts shut down for no apparent reason – I make money from blogging and I regularly use paypal for payments.
My main concern with signing up with someone new (processor) is whether or not they’re in it for the long run – just recently one of them got closed down and banned in America. How can we tell which ones we can trust?
Hi, Chris…
It has become such an issue after several BIG names had this happen to them. They were scrambling to recover and many had massive amounts of money tied up (still tied up in some cases). You are not in the strong position when working with PayPal.
If you read through the terms and conditions (do this often, they change often), you will see that pretty much you are at the mercy of their decisions, they have the final say, and the recourse of appealing likely will fall on deaf ears.
On checking to see which ones to trust, you bring up a good point. Doing due diligence on a payment gateway provider is important. One of the reasons I added in so many here is that every person will have different needs based on their business.
If they are selling on Amazon or Etsy or through their own sites, there is one or more solution they can consider. My recommendation would be to see how long they have been around (lots of new ones), what others using the service are saying, and perhaps a trial of 2-3, then going with the one that works best.’
In all cases, there is going to be a cost involved, this is to be expected. It is a matter of who does that service best and at what price. I do not mind paying a bit more if I know that the transactions will be successfully concluded. Also, good customer support is important to me.
Ease of use and setup is also a factor in my case. I have a ton of tasks to get done daily, so I do not want to add in a bunch more if it is not necessary (this kind of goes back to the price I am willing to pay). I also want a gateway that addresses mobile payments.
Best of luck for you in your search!
Cheers!
Dave : )
I had not heard about this problem with Paypal, but your advice is obviously very timely and sensible, although thus far I have not had any problems with Paypal.
As I live in the UK, I would want a platform that makes currency payments seamlessly in the same way that Paypal does. Which of the ones you mention would you recommend for me? And which of them is your favourite alternative?
Also, do they all deal with disputes in the way that Paypal does?
Very many thanks for your information, and I will certainly look at having an alternative payment method.
Chrissie 🙂
Hi, Chrissie…
Thanks for popping through…The PayPal issue has become such a thing that there is a private group on Facebook JUST for the shutdown of PayPal accounts. Vendors who have been cut off are gathering to bump virtual heads and discuss what to do.
Most certainly if you are complying with the terms and conditions as you understand them, your chances are lessened for having your account cut off. In my case from listening to others, I also made some changes in the total sales I expect to make and the kinds of sales I am making.
Keeping good books is another must these days, even if you are a sole proprietor. This way, if you are asked to provide background information on your business, you are ready to provide the paperwork they are asking for. This is something many are doing anyway for tax purposes and also to track their profits, expenses, and losses.
The last step of adding in an additional payment gateway (or two) is something that can be done as well, and it does not take that much time. In many cases, the additional option costs you only when you use the service, and you may very well get more business, as some people do not want to pay using the PayPal gateway.
Most of the gateways operate in a similar manner to PayPal. It is in the cost and the service where you will find slight differences (not that much though). Depending on the kind of business you are conducting would determine the potential additional gateway you select.
General things I look for are ease of use, customer support, positive user experiences/testimonials, how long the company has been in business, and how that gateway fits in with my online business activity. In my case, I sell IM products and also physical products, plus do drop shipping.
I am looking at 2 additional gateways right now. The first is Worldpay and the second is QuickBooks. The first is due to the fact we are selling globally and we have operations in Dubai, the Philippines, and Canada. Our accounting software is QuickBooks, and they offer an invoicing and payment system as part of their package.
There are others that I will be checking out as well. Zift, the company that JVZoo has gone with, seems to be a viable option, as does Payza. The latter company Payza is one that I have worked with in the past and I had a good experience with them,
I would say have a look at what you are doing, what your plans are for the future, and then look at the options and select one or more. Give them a try and see how they work out. Competition is good, and it seems there is a LOT when it comes to PayPal.
PayPal may have just done other companies a favor, and also the vendors may end up winning in this one. Mobile payments are becoming the norm, and PayPal is a gateway that some people want to shy away from. If we prepare now for what is here and coming, we will be the ones that survive!
Cheers!
Dave : )
Hello Dave, thanks for this great post! You’re right PayPal has been the standard for a very longtime I had no idea they were having issues. I’m glad I stumbled onto this post. It’s given me a heads up on how I can manage my online business better. Also, I didn’t know that there are so many applications that offer the same services as PayPal and some of which with very good rates! Aside PayPal I only knew about Cashspp and world remit. Thanks again for this post it was enlightening.
Hello, Ini…
Yes, this issue is best known in the inner circles of the Online Marketer’s world, and specifically, it is when some big names got cut off that it became more widely known. In my case, I found out from some friends who are in that circle (I am not hehe)…
I am glad this post will help you, there are alternatives (yes, as you say, many!) and we can most certainly be proactive and get one or more in place. This way there is never an issue of not being able to do business online. With all the work it takes to build a business, you really are dependent on having a way to take payments and send out commissions that work.
I wish you the best and thanks for stopping by!
Cheers!
Dave : )
Hi,
Thanks for a very informative review.
What is the best PayPal alternative? Hard decision for me.
Paypal can block your account for any reason, which is not a pleasant situation.I personally use Skrill and Payza.
Google Wallet might be a good alternative.
So far I know that Paypal owns Venmo and Square owns Square Cash.I’ll have to study them all.
Thanks to a very comprehensive review.
Have a nice day.
Leo
Hi, Leo…
It sounds like you are well aware of the dangers of counting only in PayPal. Many online marketers are not. That is the reason I added the post. I was surprised that many seasoned and successful marketers were only using PayPal.
These days the options that are available mean there is no need to endanger your whole business by using only PayPal. Now that the big vendors have been affected, the word is getting out. Even for affiliate marketers, this is an important consideration.
Like you, I am using some alternatives and trying others. I will never count solely on Paypal. I did starting out, as many do, but these days there are too many options so no need for that. I wish you luck with the gateways you are using and your business as well!
Cheers!
Dave : )
Hi, Dave:
I am new to the world of blogging and affiliate marketing and I found this article very helpful. I have had a PayPal account for many years and have begun connecting it to my affiliate marketing accounts. It never occurred to me that I should have a back-up plan, but you are right; I could get locked out of my account. Although I have heard of a few of the options on your list, I don’t know much about any of them so I appreciate the overview. I had no idea that there are so many options out there. I’m so glad you shared this; I will create new payment options today! It looks like your website has much more helpful information, so I will be back. Thank you.
Theresa
G’Day, Theresa…
Glad this post will help you out! There are so many options out there these days and it should be easy to select one that has the same or close to the features that you get with PayPal. Many will only cost you if you use them. It can be helpful later on when you get deeper into online marketing if not immediately.
We try to add in content that will help people here and of course there is a lot of other sites that are connected in one way or another with some of the initiatives that we have in place or are working on, Please do stop in anytime and add your input or feedback!
Cheers!
Dave : )
Hi ,
that’s a very nice idea for the payment online . I have read the article . I saw that it gives a secure payment processing which is beneficial for both in person and online . It’s great that it starts with a transparent pricing . I always wanted to process mass payments of 5000 products at once time . I need a software development .
thanks a lot for sharing the idea .
Hi, Md!
There are a number of solutions that are as good if not better than PayPal, but for online marketers, PayPal has been the main payment gateway for years. It appears that they are moving away from supporting our business model recently, so that requires us to make adjustments…
I have run into this for our business, and there are so many others that have had even worse stories and experiences, with over $100,000 tied up with PayPal and no way to access the funds for at least 6 months. Our situation is a bit more understandable.
The account we have used to take payments was created in Germany and is associated with a personal USA bank account. The billing address is registered to Dubai, UAE, and I am a US expat. Quite understandable that there is some confusion!
In any case, what we have done as we scale up the business is to open a US based LLC in Minnesota, opened a new business bank account, and opened a real office in the same town and state as the business is based in. Overall we are now in a position to take full advantage of the many other options for a payment gateway.
Actually, we have decided that we will use 2 gateways, as having only the one payment gateway can hurt if there any conditions where it may be shut down for any or no reason and we have no alternative in place. We will lose immediate business and also lose credibility with our customers.
Cheers!
Dave : )
Thanks for this article on PayPal.is so informative and it helps alot with my issues on paypal account
PayPal also blocked my account during those period of time but the only way am lucky is that I don’t have any funds there, because two weeks before then I have to pay for my brother tuition fee. So that makes me withdraw all my money for the situation happen and up till now I don’t have any other means of payment.i will look out for one of other payment gateway I can use from this article
Good Day, Ajibola…
I am sorry to hear that you too have been affected by the PayPal tendency to shut down accounts for no reason. It is good to know that you did not lose any money as so many have (or at least having no access to their money for an extended period of time).
I am glad that you came across this post, as there are certainly alternatives that you can tap into. Now that you are aware, I would recommend getting at least two in place as soon as possible. Keeping two active will be of great benefit to you.
Best of luck in getting your problem straight! Hopefully, you now have some ideas on the direction you can go in regards to getting an alternative to PayPal in place for your business!
Cheers!
Dave : )
Hi there, thanks for sharing this post about alternative to paypal. Well I think the widely accepted use of PayPal has given them an ego or let me say audacity to shut down users account for no reason, I just wish they can change it. I wish wealthy affiliate can just adopt one of the alternative methods of payment u listed In this article, wish your article can reach kyle
Hello, Yormith…
Yes having an alternative would make a lot of sense for sure for all the sales and affiliate programs. I am in the same situation in that my commissions normally are paid through PayPal for the major platforms like JVZoo, Warrior Plus, Builderall, and Wealthy Affiliate.
Conversely, when I buy products on one of these platforms, it is the same. I pay using PayPal. Now I have to switch to the business account and the associated PayPal account we have set up (in progress at the moment). This is going to be a major headache.
I do think alternate payment gateways for all these sites should be offered by the operators/owners of them. In fact, you bring up a very good point that Wealthy Affiliate only offers the PayPal or a check payment option (not sure on this). I will do some research and let’s see what can be done!
Cheers!
Dave : )
As important and informative as your article was, I have to say it definitely scared me a little. I am an affiliate marketer, and I keep hearing these horror stories of affiliates being closed down by Amazon and by PayPal. Wow. I just had a dispute with PayPal because I ordered and paid for something through them (a program called Stockocity2) and I was never delivered the program (I paid $69) so finally PayPal found in my favor and returned the money to me. Anyway, I know some platforms only pay through PayPal, so this really made me nervous.
I’m so happy you gave a dispute handling process and some altrnatives to PayPal. Thank you for providing all this information and putting everything into one area. So appreciated!
Hi, Babsie…
Yes indeed, it is very scary, as so much of our business hinges on having access to PayPal. I am affected as so many have been, but fortunately, we are working through to a solution, and that will even include still using Paypal. The fees are not cheap, but it is what it is.
The problem comes in when buying and taking payments for a lot of us. You can sell and get commissions, but if the platform or product only has the PayPal option to pay you, if you have had your account shut down, you have a problem,
This is why we are going through the additional steps over establishing a new company and office, USA bank accounts, and other payment gateways to get PayPal back up again. The difference will be that we now will have a more understandable and defendable business model.
We are not selling a lot of dubious software or tools that do not work or overhyped ‘guru’ programs either. The tools we have are tangible and useful, and the products we sell are physical ones in most cases (e-com), so we are not like some of the scammers that are out there.
This PayPal issue is arising due to the many scammers out there, and it is affecting the honest and ethical people like you and me. Unfortunately, we have to deal with the outcomes of their misdeeds. As with any market, things change all the time. You have to change too or risk becoming irrelevant or worse going out of business.
Cheers!
Dave : )
oh I really did not know there were so many options for Paypal. I’ve been with Paypal for years and, touch wood, I haven’t had any issues. But you are right, it’s prudent to have alternatives in place. Which is why I was looking at Payoneer previously and wondering what other options are out there. So I am very glad I came across your article!
Thank you for the insights.
Hello, Cath!
It was the same for us for years with our business. I had changed the expected income from sales to a high number (over $100k in a year) and also added in other business documents and identification to ward off problems. We have been using that account for about 10 years or so I think.
But, as KYC (know your customer) and other international agreements for more transparency have come into effect, plus new local country laws, and even city laws, it has become more burdensome on the payment gateway companies too.
Such companies tend to be risk averse, and do not want to be found not in compliance with all these regulations and requirements. Therefore, they have set up algorithms that will red flag any questionable (in their mind) transactions or conditions.
The best way to avoid this happening is to make sure that PayPal is aware of what you are selling, to who you are selling to, and the amounts you expect to sell. Also, having the books and documentation ready and available if they do want to see is helpful.
Lastly, getting an alternative payment gateway is in order in case you are shut down, as we were. It makes sense as you scale your business up, you can get a merchant account and these kinds of problems are lessened. Of course, there may cases when PayPal is the only one that makes sense, i.e. when you are starting out with the business.
Best of luck in 2019 and thanks for adding your feedback to this important issue!
Cheers!
Dave : )
Hi Dave, thanks for the article wished I had the update to your article about a year and a half ago. I was shut down and it took me about 8-months to get everything back. At that time I was just selling stuff through eBay and someone made a complaint about what I had sold to both eBay and Paypal. I was so disheartened by how Paypal treated the whole thing. I started using Payoneer and Stripe when I started affiliate marketing and love both of them, no issues what so ever and I feel secure about my money and I don’t pay through the nose with fees anymore. I also never realized how many secure transaction companies are out there now, it’s amazing. There are a couple of people I know still locked out of their Paypal and I’ll make sure to shoot this URL to them and hopefully, it helps them. Thanks,Jason
Hi, Jason…
Yes, this is a more common phenomenon these days for online marketers. There is even a private group for people in the MMO niche who have experienced the same thing. No reason shutdown, money locked up for 6 months, and business dead in the water.
We had it happen to the mother-in-law of my partner’s wife with her business too, and most recently my business was also shut down. In my case, they said that I was located in one country while having an account in another country, and a billing address for the associated bank from yet a third country so I was a risk (?).
I had been using that account for almost 10 years off and on, and over the past 4 years for affiliate and consult services billing. Never had a problem, no disputes whatsoever, and never a problem with PayPal. They said I could re-open in the USA and that should fix the problem since the bank account was there.
Of course, based on everyone’s experience I have seen in the Facebook thread on PayPal shutdowns, I knew the answer lied somewhere between what they were telling me and what my gut was telling me. So I chose to start a brand new LLC, get new bank accounts, and then add a few different payment gateways.
We are in the final stages of this now, it has taken some time to organize things and get activated with all the new gateways (and PayPal too). I will not count on PayPal again as we did for so long.I have money tied up and also it is a major pain to switch the recurring payments, etc.
In your case, it sounds like you went through a rough time of it. Most definitely Payoneer and Stripe are good solutions and cheaper too compared with Paypal. I have selected 2Checkout and Stripe for retail sales (B2C) and Veem for B2B. These are in addition to the PayPal account.
Over time, we will drop to two, but for now, I will test them all out, and for sure PayPal can shit us down at any time, so PayPal will not be one of the two! All the best for 2019, and thanks for sharing your story. This is a real issue for many people.
Cheers!
Dave : )