Paypal

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Johan

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Hi all... I am pretty cheesed off that Paypal Australia does not accept Amex, but Paypal US and some other countries do. Does anyone else here use Paypal? Anyone here interested in sending a group petition to Amex Australia? Paypal is the defacto currency of many internet transactions and eBay auction payments.

Anyone interested, could post here. If the response if great, then maybe we can start an online poll, or I could just call Amex + Paypal and refer them to this post (Is it within the forum rules to direct Amex and Paypal to this forum, or do the moderators prefer that I don't?).

I think Paypal is definitely a channel Amex should pursue, expecially if the accept Paypal overseas... so merchant fee differentials are obviously not an issue overseas!
 
Then, why does Paypal US and other countries accept Amex?

Do we always have to live with higher fees in Oz, due to the lack of competition? e.g. having to pay for QF membership, having a poorer earn and burn rate on QF compared to many other airlines, etc?

If Amex can't strike a deal, I and other Aussies, would just have to use our Visa/MC when we pay through Paypal (I would think most Amex cardholders also have at least a Visa or MC), so Amex could lose my custom by not scrificing its 2-4% fee for a 0.1-2% fee!!.

I'm sure they accept a lower fee for large stores like Woolies and ColesMyer, so why not Paypal.
 
Many AU businesses don't accept Amex. I don't really see the connection that just because the US Paypal accepts Amex, that the AU Paypal should accept Amex.

All Amex cardholders in AU experience rejection sometimes when trying to pay by Amex and thus most have an alternative card.

I use Paypal and I noticed that AU Paypal didn't accept Amex whilst US Paypal does accept. Sure it would be good if they did, but they have the right not to. I think the amount of dollars sent through Paypal AU is very minor compared with Paypal US. Americans use PayPal very much more commonly.

My suspicion for why PayPal AU doesn’t accept Amex however is not to do with higher merchant fees. I believe Amex US came to an agreement with PayPal US that it would make it very difficult for Amex US cardholders to claim unauthorized use due to the fact of the PayPal expanded use number program (where the cardholder needs to check their statement for a 4 digit number). I believe such agreement would not be possible in AU due to the Australian laws. And with Amex generally approving charge backs easier than banks through Visa/Mastercard scheme, it would open up a lot of problems with fraud and charged back payments to sellers/buyers.
 
Well, AMex actually seeks feedback on where we would like to use our card. If enough of us fill out the form, they may actually think that it is worthwhile to pursue Paypal business.
https://home3.americanexpress.com/australia/merchant/secure/leads_general/prospect.asp?

Well, Paypal AU might not be able to chargeback, but they do a small deposit verification, which should work as well.
https://www.paypal.com/au/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_seal-confirm-me&return_cmd=_account&standalone=1

In any case, I don't think the expanded use number is an insurmountable problem, if they wanted to make it work!
 
Is the problem directly with PayPal Australia not accepting Amex? Or is it that merchants that use PayPal in Australia have chosen not to accept Amex as a payment method because PayPal charge them a higher fee if they accept Amex? I really have no idea how PayPal operate from a merchant;s perspective.

I have not used my PayPal account since the change to PayPal Australia came about recently. But my account still shows my Amex card as my primary card. So now that my account has been moved to PayPal Australia, am I still able to use my Amex for PayPal purchases in the USA?

I have only ever used PayPal for purchases from UK and USA, so I hope I can still use my Amex for those, but if I cannot, I will be content to use my Visa card since my PayPal transactions are never big and the difference in points is not much.
 
Nope. I believe merchants just choose to accept Paypal or not to accept Paypal. I don't think it matters to them where the funding of the Paypal account is from. If you got yours transferred from Paypal US, lucky you, if it is still registered.

Unfortunately, I had my Visa and MC with Paypal US, and just got my Amex a few months ago (after the switch to PP Oz). PP Oz won't take new Amex regos.
 
There was a change to the Paypal Amex rules last year. If the Amex is already on file before the change, then you can use it until expiry. New Amex registrations not accepted.
 
kyle said:
There was a change to the Paypal Amex rules last year. If the Amex is already on file before the change, then you can use it until expiry. New Amex registrations not accepted.
My Amex certainly was on file last year. And I used it yesterday for a purchase. No problems as all. Was for on-line purchase of a software licence and from a US provider, but from my acconut which is now at paypal.com.au.
 
Me vs. Palpal:

I recently got on board the Rewards Maximiser train. Being a regular eBay user, I was fairly annoyed at how paypal.com.au didn't accept Amex

So....I just went and registered on Paypal.com, using my aunt's address in the US as my billing address for the Maximiser. I've added the card and I'm waiting for the transaction of $1.95 US to see if the card will be charged, and then I can give them my 'expanded use number'.

I'll keep you guys posted

Hopefully the next step is if I can manage to set up the Amex/Paypal combo, see if I can tell paypal I've 'left' the USA to come to Australia permanently, so that the account will effectively migrate across, just cos I can forsee some issues with foreign currency transaction fees.
 
Update:

Got the expanded use number, entered it, Paypal says I'm good to go

Will test to see if there's any foreign currency transaction costs. There's a drop down option to pay in AUD, so I'm not sure whether they'll send an AUD request to my card, meaning no conversion fee, or whether they'll change the specified AUD amount to USD, send the transaction to my card, and ping me...
 
Dons83 said:
Me vs. Palpal:

I recently got on board the Rewards Maximiser train. Being a regular eBay user, I was fairly annoyed at how paypal.com.au didn't accept Amex

So....I just went and registered on Paypal.com, using my aunt's address in the US as my billing address for the Maximiser. I've added the card and I'm waiting for the transaction of $1.95 US to see if the card will be charged, and then I can give them my 'expanded use number'.

I'll keep you guys posted

Hopefully the next step is if I can manage to set up the Amex/Paypal combo, see if I can tell paypal I've 'left' the USA to come to Australia permanently, so that the account will effectively migrate across, just cos I can forsee some issues with foreign currency transaction fees.

I'll be waiting to hear how you go-I can easily arrange the same thing. Most of my Ebay/Paypal purchases are from the States. I've found that most Aussie Ebayers don't even take Paypal, they want bank transfers which I hate to do as you aren't protected.
 
Tiki said:
I'll be waiting to hear how you go-I can easily arrange the same thing. Most of my Ebay/Paypal purchases are from the States. I've found that most Aussie Ebayers don't even take Paypal, they want bank transfers which I hate to do as you aren't protected.
In my experience, most Aussie PayPal sellers will only accept Visa or Mastercard and do not accept Amex through Paypal. I regularly use Amex through Paypal for overseas PayPal sellers (USA, UK mostly).
 
I think the problem is that those people who had Amex registered with US Paypal before Aussie Paypal took it over have been allowed to keep it. They can pay for American purchases on Amex but not Aussie ones. Anyone who didn't have an Amex already registered with US Paypal is not able to add one on to the Aussie Paypal.
 
Bought some iPod socks for 9.50 AUD...Looks like it's sent a charge of 7.42 USD to the Amex...but it was with an australian seller.

Also the addressing system is a bit dodge as they insist on having Town-State-ZIP-USA in all the forms...still, the transaction went thru, emailed the seller and they're happy to send to my australian address. I don't think it makes any difference to him, it's still 9.50 AUD that goes into his account.
 
one9 said:
My suspicion for why PayPal AU doesn’t accept Amex however is not to do with higher merchant fees. I believe Amex US came to an agreement with PayPal US that it would make it very difficult for Amex US cardholders to claim unauthorized use due to the fact of the PayPal expanded use number program (where the cardholder needs to check their statement for a 4 digit number). I believe such agreement would not be possible in AU due to the Australian laws.

Which laws did you have in mind?
 
NM said:
Is the problem directly with PayPal Australia not accepting Amex? Or is it that merchants that use PayPal in Australia have chosen not to accept Amex as a payment method because PayPal charge them a higher fee if they accept Amex? I really have no idea how PayPal operate from a merchant;s perspective.

I'm a PayPal merchant. I would like to accept Amex, but PayPal simply do not offer me that option.
 
Here's the thing...I've paid an aussie paypal merchant through the account I made, even though they didn't seem to offer it (their graphic only showed paypal MC and Visa). I convert the funds to AUD when I pay. It makes no difference for US sellers, as I pay in USD anyway, but for Australian sellers, I get slugged a currency conversion since paypal USA charges my Amex in USD, which is then converted to AUD for the aussie seller, but like someone said before, it's not generally a huge issue, as so many aussie sellers prefer bank transfer anyway.
 
Australian sellers on Ebay might prefer direct transfer, but those of us who sell our goods in an international market need to be able to accept Amex, JCB, Discover and so on.
 
Bellthorpe said:
Australian sellers on Ebay might prefer direct transfer, but those of us who sell our goods in an international market need to be able to accept Amex, JCB, Discover and so on.

What I meant was that Paypal users with only an amex card can actually purchase directly from Australian sellers even though they don't offer that facility (outwardly).

I'll PM you the link to the auction I won...
 
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