Paypal

PayPal was created by a group of students, among whom was an emigrant from the USSR, Max Levchin , who later noted in the Facebook project.

PayPal Inc. founded in March 1998 as a result of the merger of Confinity and X.com , in the first months of its existence, the company began to service electronic auctions, so, by April 1998, more than 1 million auctions on eBay offered payment through PayPal.

In October 2002, PayPal was acquired by eBay , and from now on, more than 50% of eBay auction transactions are carried out with PayPal. Most of PayPal's main competitors are closed or sold.

At the beginning of 2012, PayPal operates in 190 countries. As of September 2011, 24 types of world currency were used in PayPal. At the beginning of 2015, eBay and PayPal became different companies.

June 24, 2013 PayPal for an unknown reason, accrued to the American Chris Reynolds the amount of 92 233 720 368 547 800 dollars . Thus, for several hours he became richer than the richest man in the world more than a million times ^[3] .

In 2015, PayPal launched the PayPal.me service, which allows you to create personal pages for receiving payments ^{[4] [5]} .

In August 2017, PayPal acquired the online lending company Swift Financial, which is the leading provider of online lending for small businesses in the United States. Such an acquisition will allow PayPal to issue long-term loans of up to $ 500 thousand to its sellers. PayPal will also use Swift Financial data to process loans for new users of the system.

PayPal Working Capital has been providing small business lending services since 2013. Loans are issued in the amount of up to 125 thousand dollars. The company calculates the level of creditworthiness on the basis of previously processed payments by the borrower . Since the launch of lending, PayPal has issued loans in the amount of more than $ 3 billion for 115 thousand small enterprises ^[6] .

August 16, 2017 it became known about the conclusion of a transaction between PayPal and the British technology startup Thyngs. The latter deals with mobile payments, and Thyngs technology allows users to lean their phones against stickers at various sites to receive information using QR codes , NFC , Bluetooth , as well as making payments.

As a result of the merger, PayPal will receive its contactless payment platform, and Thyngs will gain access to the 200 millionth PayPal client base ^[7] .

PayPal is headquartered in San Jose , California , on the North First Street campus . The company's operations center was opened in 1999 and is located in Omaha , Nebraska . In 2006, PayPal opened a technology center in Scottsdale , Arizona , and a software development center in Chennai, India, in 2007. Since July 2007, PayPal has been operating in the European Union as a bank in Luxembourg . PayPal has its European headquarters in Luxembourg and Singapore's international headquarters. In October 2007, PayPal opened a data service office on the north side of Austin , Texas , and also opened a second operations center in La Vista , Nebraska , the same year. In 2011, they joined similar customer support operations located in Berlin , Germany ; Chandler , Arizona; Dublin , Ireland ; Omaha, Nebraska; and Shanghai , China ; PayPal opened a second customer support center in Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia , and began the hiring process. In 2014, PayPal opened a new global operations center in Kuala Lumpur.

PayPal can be used by residents of more than 200 countries ^[8] . Different conditions apply to different countries: Send only (the service package only allows the sending of foreign currency, valid in 97 countries), PayPal Zero (the service package assumes the possibility of crediting, depositing and withdrawing funds in foreign currency, but the user cannot keep the balance on a PayPal account, valid in 18 countries), SRW Send - Recieve - Withdrawal (the possibility of crediting, depositing / withdrawing funds, and the ability to keep a balance in the currency in the PayPal account and transfer to the card when the user considers it necessary, valid in 41 countries), as well as Local Currency ( SRW p lus ability to conduct operations in local currency, 21 countries).

Japan

At the end of March 2010, new Japanese banking rules forced PayPal Japan to suspend the possibility of sending money between individuals registered in Japan. As a result, now owners of PayPal accounts in Japan can only make business transactions (purchase and sale, etc.) ^{[9] [10]} .

India

Since October 14, 2011, the transaction limit has been set in the amount of $ 3,000, for users there is no way to store money on PayPal accounts; after sending or receiving funds will be debited from the card instantly or, if received, will automatically be credited to a bank account confirmed with PayPal. The so-called PayPal Zero system. (besides India, it works in 17 more countries)

Turkey

Eight years after the company first started operating in the country, Paypal ceased operations in Turkey on June 6, 2016, when the Turkish financial regulator BDDK denied it a payment license. Regulators have required Paypal data centers to be located inside Turkey to facilitate compliance with government and court orders to block content and track tax revenues. PayPal said the closure will affect tens of thousands of businesses and hundreds of thousands of consumers in Turkey ^{[11] [12]} .

Israel

PayPal is available in Israel, but not available in the Palestinian territories. Palestinians working in the West Bank or Gaza also cannot use PayPal, but Israelis living in settlements in the West Bank can. This discrepancy prompted some technology companies to look for methods to change PayPal policies ^[13] .

Ukraine

Residents of Ukraine can use PayPal only in the following order: you can deposit funds to your account, but you cannot withdraw or withdraw money, this is the so-called Send only system, which works in a total of 96 countries. The reason for this restriction is the limits on the part of the governments of these states. On March 2, 2016, a meeting was held in Warsaw between representatives of the National Bank of Ukraine and PayPal, during which it was stated that there is currently no development plan for PayPal Ukraine ^[14] .

Russia

For Russian PayPal users, the possibility of accepting payments to the account appeared in October 2011 ^[15] . Withdrawal of funds from the account for Russian users is possible to the accounts in Russian banks ^[15] . In 2012, to maximize customer reach and provide quality services, PayPal offered cooperation to Russian Post ^{[16] [17]} .

Crimea

In January 2015, PayPal ceased operations in Crimea in accordance with sanctions against Russia and the Crimea ^[18] .

Belarus

Residents of Belarus can use PayPal only to send funds. Such a restriction has existed since June 2014, when PayPal officially came to Belarus ^[19] .

In March 2012, PayPal introduced a new device called PayPal Here, which will allow you to pay by credit card via mobile phone . Supported on iPhone and Android OS.

PayPal Here is a card reader - a small blue triangle that connects to the phone through the headphone input. The innovation is primarily aimed at representatives of small businesses and small retailers. The payment system will charge a commission of 2.7 percent of the payment amount. In addition, the company provides a debit card to which one percent of the transaction will be returned. Thus, the commission can be reduced to 1.7 percent ^[20] .

In the United States, PayPal is licensed as a money transfer financial institution ^[21] . And although PayPal is not called a bank , as it does not participate in the Deposit Insurance System ^[22] , the company is required to comply with laws and regulations for financial institutions. In addition, PayPal stores unspent users' funds in banks on deposit accounts ^{[23] [24] in} order to receive additional profit.

In Australia in 2006, PayPal received a license for savings and loan activity, which made him the subject of Australian banking law ^[25] .

In 2007, PayPal received a banking license in Luxembourg , which gave it the right to engage in banking activities throughout the European Union and the obligation to comply with the laws and regulations of the Financial Sector Supervisory Commission ^[26] .

On March 13, 2013, the Central Bank of Russia approved a PayPal application for a non-bank credit organization license ^[27] and on May 14, 2013 PayPal received a license ^{[28] [29]} , which subsequently allows customers to transfer funds from PayPal to Russian banks.

Payments are made through a secure connection after entering the e-mail and password specified to confirm the account . The account includes the address to which purchases will be delivered. PayPal users can transfer money to each other.

Confirmation of the account includes the process of debiting a small amount of money (usually a little less than two dollars - $ 1.95) from the user's card with a four-digit code in the payment details that must be reported to PayPal. This action confirms the identity of the cardholder with access to the payment history of his card. After confirmation, the money is transferred to the balance of the PayPal account.

Using PayPal for buyers is free of charge: registration in the system is free, for sending money, the sender does not charge a fee. Commission is charged to the payee. Its size depends on the country of payment and the country of the user receiving the payment, as well as its status. PayPal also earns income from the difference in exchange rates when it converts money. Money transfers to bank accounts are only possible in local currency.

In the case of payment on eBay of purchases to be delivered, the money does not arrive at the seller’s account until the buyer confirms the delivery (valid only for eBay products worth more than 10 USD) or the time for opening a dispute by the buyer expires (21 days) . Within 45 days from the date of payment, the buyer has the opportunity to open a dispute if the delivered goods differ from the ordered one, or the delivery has not been completed. If the buyer and the seller could not reach a mutual agreement, the dispute can be translated into a claim. A claim may be posted within 20 calendar days from the date of the opening of the dispute. If PayPal decides in favor of the buyer, the purchase price is returned to him, in some cases delivery costs are also reimbursed.

Before the official entry into the Russian market in September 2013 and the introduction of the RUB currency, the commission for transferring funds in Russia in US dollars was 3.4% + $ 0.30 USD. The same tariff is currently valid in Ukraine, the Republic of Belarus and the Republic of Moldova after the launch of PayPal in these countries. In Russia, payments in any currency other than RUB between PayPal accounts registered in Russia are prohibited. Currently ^{[ when? ] the} commission for Russia is 3.9% + 10 RUB. External payments from Russia, Ukraine, the Republic of Belarus and the Republic of Moldova are allowed in any currency.

For Russia, the conversion of USD and any other currency when it is withdrawn in the form of rubles to a Russian bank account or when automatically converted to rubles when receiving money (if the user has configured it this way) is subject to an additional commission of 2.5% of the current market rate at the time of application ( according to other information, from May 2018 the commission is from 4.0 to 4.8% ).

The cross-rate commission for the payment or transfer of money in a currency other than the payment currency is 4% of the market rate and is applied automatically at the time of payment by card or account balance. Withdrawing RUB to a bank account in its pure form, however, is free. Payments to Russian bank accounts are received from the Moscow branch of Deutsche Bank within 3-7 business days (on average, this occurs no more than an hour in 24 hours, at 14-15 hours Moscow time on business days).

The percentage of commission can be reduced for sellers with a turnover of more than $ 3,000 per month. The minimum possible commission is 2.4% and can be obtained at a turnover of $ 100,000 / month .

A summary table of standard PayPal commissions when accepting payments from different regions of the world for accounts registered in Russia. The main currency of the account is the US dollar .

The amount of the additional fixed commission (for example: $ 0.30 USD, € 0.35 EUR, £ 0.20 GBP, ¥ 40 JPY, 10 RUB, etc.) depends on the payment currency and is different for each currency. And the percentage depends on the country or region where the payment came from.

This is important for sales on eBay , where the PayPal commission is added to the standard commission of the auction itself (12% from January 1, 2019, and 11.8% before that, due to the increase in VAT in Russia from 18 to 20%).

Thus, the maximum possible aggregate commission for an eBay auction using PayPal for sales to the whole world for Russian accounts is:

12% (eBay) + 10.4% (5.4% PayPal transfer from the USA to Russia + 1% for commercial use + 4% commission for converting into rubles) = 22.4 % + $ 0.30 USD

When buying in the amount of 3 USD: the total commission will be 0.972 USD ( 32.4% ) - in rubles will remain 2.028 USD or 67.6% of the original amount.

When buying in the amount of 10 USD: the total commission will be 2.54 USD ( 25.4% ) - in rubles will remain 7.46 USD or 74.6% of the original amount.

When buying in the amount of 30 USD: the total commission is 7.02 USD ( 23.4% ) - 22.98 USD or 76.6% of the original amount will remain in rubles.

When buying in the amount of 100 USD: the total commission will be 22.7 USD ( 22.7% ) - 77.3 USD or 77.3% of the original amount will remain in rubles.

When buying in the amount of 300 USD: the total commission will be 67.5 USD ( 22.5% ) - in rubles will remain 232.5 USD or 77.5% of the original amount.

And then the remainder approaches below 77.6%, but never crosses this border (commission 22.4% ).

Example: a purchase of 10 USD, the rate of 66.6 rubles / USD. for speed, you can assume that you will get rubles at the rate of 1 USD = 66.6 x0.746 = ~ 50 rubles.

In world practice, on sites when accepting PayPal payments it is often customary to designate the countries of Western Europe as Europe I and Eastern as Europe II. Therefore, a more specific list of these countries is best clarified directly on the PayPal website.

Inside Russia, starting from May 25, 2018, transfers ceased to be free and a commission is charged as "for the rest of the world", i.e. 5.4% + $ 0.30 USD.

To date (February 2019), PayPal commission is the largest among all common payment systems in the world. eBay in 2018 began the process of switching from PayPal to services, which will end in the mid-2020s ^{[30] [31]} .

In October 2011, the developers of the decentralized social network Diaspora announced a fundraising campaign. Over the past few days, more than $ 45,000 was raised, but Paypal froze the Diaspora account without any explanation. November 12, 2011 the main developer Ilya Zhitomirsky was found dead in his house ^{[32] [33]} . After a large number of complaints and the threat of prosecution, the apologized account was unfrozen, but no explanation was given.

В мае 2014 года Paypal заблокировал счет проекта «Росузник» ^[34] , который занимался защитой активистов, задержанных на политических акциях ^[35] . В твиттере проекта сообщалось: «Позвонил PayPal, объяснил, что закрывает наш кошелёк, так как не хочет иметь рисков, связанных с нашей деятельностью» ^{[36] [37]} .

14 мая 2015 года активист движения «Солидарность» Всеволод Чагаев сообщил в своем твиттере о том, что Paypal заблокировал его счет, предназначенный для сбора средств на печать доклада Путин. Война ^[38] . Платежная система объяснила свою позицию тем, что она «не предоставляет возможность пользоваться своей системой для сбора пожертвований на деятельность политических партий и политические цели в России» ^[39] , вопреки тому, что её правила пользования не упоминают явно сбор средств для политических партий или политических целей ^[40] .

В апреле 2015 года PayPal прекратила обслуживание жителей улиц Москвы, чьи названия производны от крымских топонимов ^[41] . Позднее в компании была проведена проверка фильтров топонимов, и санкции с москвичей были сняты.

Для граждан Казахстана вывод денежных средств со своего аккаунта PayPal возможен только на карту платёжной системы Visa не более двух раз в сутки и лимитируется суммой 49,99$ с комиссией в 5$ за каждую транзакцию . Сообщают о фактах блокировок аккаунтов пользователей под различными предлогами, при этом техническая поддержка возможна лишь путем международных голосовых звонков в США.

• Eric M. Jackson. The PayPal Wars: Battles with eBay, the Media, the Mafia, and the Rest of Planet Earth. — 2012. — 350 с. — ISBN 1936488590 . (eng.)

• Paypal.com