Merchant Accounts versus PayPal Accounts

Let’s start off by clarifying that PayPal is NOT an acquiring bank nor a true merchant processor. It will NOT setup your online or retail business with an actual merchant account but only a PayPal account.

There is a Very Big Difference.

When your business works direct with an actual acquiring bank and payment processor, your money or “funds” are fully protected by Federal Banking Regulations. Your funds are directly deposited into your personal or business bank account within an agreed upon time frame, normally 24-48 hours after batching out.

With PayPal, your money is deposited into a PayPal Account, which PayPal Fully Controls.

PayPal is NOT an actual bank so they are not obligated to follow federal banking regulations. The reason these regulations are important is that they protect your business from issues like having your bank account froze for 6 months with no explanation given… (Just imagine if banks were actually permitted to do that to their customers!)

Because PayPal is not regulated in the same way as a real Merchant Account, PayPal accounts can be frozen for almost any reason and without warning. The account can usually receive money while it is frozen, but the account holder cannot withdrawal any money. Once an account is frozen, the funds are often held by PayPal for months on end with Absolutely No Recourse for the merchant.

Merchants finding themselves on the wrong end of a frozen PayPal account, will still have to find some way to pay their obligations and fill orders for the weeks and months ahead while their account is restricted. A domino effect occurs when a merchant’s account is frozen, leaving them with No Means To Fill Orders or Pay Bills. Those orders are then disputed by customers, creating more chargebacks and the illusion of fraudulent activity on the part of you the merchant. “Welcome to the PayPal Nightmare.”

How Does PayPal Make Money With My Money?

Currently there are roughly over 100,000 outstanding complaints at PayPal according to the San Francisco Chronicle. These disputes many times last for months leaving merchants angry, frustrated and sometimes out of business. You may be wondering what happens to the millions of dollars being tied up in these frozen accounts. Here is a short clip from an article recently in the San Francisco Chronicle that gives us some good insight:

U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel of San Jose refused to dismiss a lawsuit that seeks class-action status on behalf of thousands of PayPal customers nationwide. A common allegation is that the company brushes off or stalls customer grievances for months and meanwhile freezes the customer’s account and pockets the interest (So that’s how they make their money!). No wonder they freeze so many accounts!

Hopefully this article has shown you enough reasons to seek out the many benefits and protections that a true Merchant Account can offer to your business. Merchants have enough to stress about in trying to stay afloat in today’s tough economy, having their money wrongfully frozen should not be one of them. Do yourself the service of setting up an actual merchant account for your business, and give yourself the peace of mind you deserve.

Author Bio: Learn more about setting up an actual Online Merchant Account. Stop by Brooks Rohrer’s site, www.tailoredtransactions.com where you can find out all about Accepting Credit Cards for your online or retail business.

Category: Business
Keywords: merchant account, credit card processing, merchant services, accept credit cards, online merchant