topic Re: PayPal Questions in Credit Cards

PayPal Questions

Anonymous — Sun, 05 Jan 2014 15:14:11 GMT

Hello All -

1. I have always thought it safer to shop through PayPal instead of using my CCs directly online, especially for the first time I use a site. Is it safer - or is it fine to just use my card directly?

2. I have 1 or 2 CCs linked to my PayPal account - and was considering closing my Smart Connect account and linking a few other cards, so they can get more usage. Is it a good idea to have so many CCs linked to my PayPal account - especially with the possibility of security breaches?

3. Do you know if I purchase something through one of the online shopping portals at Discover or Barclay - etc. - but use those cards by way of PayPal, will I still get the extra cashback / miles?

Thanks

Re: PayPal Questions

Mrm-na — Mon, 06 Jan 2014 13:34:45 GMT

1) If it's a small site that you aren't sure if you can trust, then yes, I think it's safer to pay through Paypal. That way the site never sees your card info. That info is only exposed to Paypal, who you can reasonably assume do a good job of securing it.

2) Although I wouldn't be very worried about Paypal compromising your stored info, in principle I think it's probably safest if the info isn't saved into an account. When I make purchases through Paypal, I pay as a guest and enter the card info at the time of the purchase. My reason for doing that isn't so much for security, but still, just as a security concern it still might be the safest way to do it.

Big caveat though - you do have to be careful each time you type your card info that it's truly Paypal, and not a spoofed imitation. In that regard, it could be argued that having the info saved in a Paypal account could be better.

I do have a Paypal account but I only use it to receive money, I don't log in to it to make purchases. I've linked one card to my account because it was mandatory, but that only serves as a required "backup" funding source and never really gets used.

3) I don't know much about the portals.

Re: PayPal Questions

takeshi74 — Mon, 06 Jan 2014 13:51:41 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I have always thought it safer to shop through PayPal instead of using my CCs directly online, especially for the first time I use a site. Is it safer - or is it fine to just use my card directly?

Both as the two aren't mutually exclusive. Paypal has its own buyer protections but it's perfectly fine to use your credit card directly as well. Your cards have their own protections. It's really your call to make. For sites that look fishy I'll use Paypal since it doesn't directly expose my card info and I can use Paypal's protection. There have been a couple of instances where I have had to rely on Paypal but, then again, fraud protection on my credit cards has saved me several times in the past as well.

@Anonymous wrote:
I have 1 or 2 CCs linked to my PayPal account - and was considering closing my Smart Connect account and linking a few other cards, so they can get more usage. Is it a good idea to have so many CCs linked to my PayPal account - especially with the possibility of security breaches?

Again, your call. You have to balance whether the convenience of having multiple cards is worth the potential risk.

@Anonymous wrote:
Do you know if I purchase something through one of the online shopping portals at Discover or Barclay - etc. - but use those cards by way of PayPal, will I still get the extra cashback / miles?

Generally no but you need to refer to the terms of the specific portal you're using. They don't all have identical terms.

Re: PayPal Questions

Creditaddict — Mon, 06 Jan 2014 16:11:28 GMT

I just wouldn't worry about it

Re: PayPal Questions

Anonymous — Mon, 06 Jan 2014 16:27:14 GMT

Google wallet and PayPal have my cards. Also they are linked to a CU account that I keep 10 bux in. If someone sends me money I've got to get the cash somehow. Neither are linked to my main 2 accounts.

Re: PayPal Questions

Anonymous — Mon, 06 Jan 2014 16:29:01 GMT

Also I know last quarter discover counted both PayPal and Google Wallet as online shopping

Re: PayPal Questions

FinStar — Tue, 07 Jan 2014 05:42:29 GMT

@Creditaddict wrote:
I just wouldn't worry about it

Exactly.