PayPal

PayPal, headquarted in Palo Alto, California, was founded in 1998 by Peter Thiel and Max Levchin. Due to manner in which they operate, they do not qualify as a bank, and they do not have to obey the legislation that governs banks.

PayPal was bought by eBay in late 2002. PayPal had previously been the payment method of choice by many users on eBay, and the service competed with eBay's own BillPoint system. Thus, the acquisition was a natural one for eBay.

PayPal has been used successfully by the vast majority of its users. However, a number have had frustrating situations with PayPal authorities. A very controversial aspect of PayPal is that they have a policy, and history, of closing accounts and withholding funds for reasons that they will not disclose.

External links

• Paypal official site (http://www.paypal.com/)
• PayPal Sucks (http://www.paypalsucks.com/)
• Paypal Warning (http://www.paypalwarning.com/)
• Aboutpaypal.org (http://www.aboutpaypal.org/)
• E-gold, an alternative to PayPal based on gold (http://www.e-gold.com/)