December 19, 2005

PayPal - Perfect Solution for Smaller Businesses

If you are looking for a way to quickly do online transactions, it's hard to beat PayPal's speed and ease of use. Within a few minutes you can quickly start receiving and sending money. PayPal is not for every business (those needing more features beyond PayPal's simple ones) but PayPal IS a solution for many - especially if you are just starting out.

The NY Times writes Some companies outgrow PayPal. Magnet America, a seller of specialty magnets that is based in King, N.C., used it as its primary billing source in 2003. The next year, the company's "Support Our Troops" magnet, shaped like a yellow ribbon, hit it big: four million were sold. The company realized that it needed a sophisticated billing system that allowed it to analyze sales data better and to record customer information, like e-mail addresses, that PayPal did not share.

Typically on the Web, the biggest player is often the biggest target for schemers. According to surveys by Gartner, PayPal has been the most attacked financial service for the last five years. Authentic-looking e-mail messages are often sent out by "phishers" - people trying to dupe Web users into revealing their account numbers, passwords or other personal information. These numbers can then be sold to thieves who use them to charge items to credit cards, empty bank accounts or steal identities. Ms. Bettencourt of PayPal says fraud prevention is one of the company's main focuses, with 1,000 PayPal and eBay staff members dedicated to fighting the problem.

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