Paypal and eBay - the coefficient

Paypal and eBay - the coefficient

Internet Shopping and Payment

The Internet shopping era today has given birth to many questions and doubts regarding security worldwide. We will try to delve into the activities of two giants and find out their ways of functioning and steps undertaken to safeguard the interest of the customers towards secured transactions.

eBay is the world's largest online store for selling and buying goods across the universe and their trademark is Marketplace®. Pay Pal is the most preferred way to send and receive secured payments all the world over. Both eBay and PayPal are seasoned tested public companies and emphasize on secured transactions. eBay was founded in 1995 and Pay Pal in 1998.

Inspite of its international standing, eBay enables trade both at local and national levels. ebay has got a diversified community of individuals/ corporates. Millions of items are traded each day online on ebay. The number of items is of more than 44 million at any point of time and another 4 million are added every day. The product range is in the vicinity of 50,000. PayPal has got 78 million account members and services in over 56 countries all over the world. Today PayPal is used NOT only by individuals but a host of corporates, who have entrusted the safety of its secured Transaction.

Security - the point of concern

Now, let us explore the security and payment options provided by eBay as well as Pay Pal. eBay has got purchase protection NOT only for NOT RECEIVED goods but they also protect the items which are received NOT AS DESCRIBED. eBay has been continuously working behind the scenes to develop newest technologies and skills to fight the frauds and enlighten the community to appreciate it's safe trading practices. They work with law enforcement agencies and Government agencies to implement the policies and best practices. They use Account guard (against spoof) and eBay feedback to ensure legitimate and secured transactions.

PayPal emphasizes on its own robust proprietary risk models, which help to protect the users by monitoring any unusual activities. The technology evaluates transactions using several parameters to pinpoint fraudulency. While the encryption method ensures the protection of the user's key information. Multiple levels of security and the patent-pending methods of Credit Card and Bank Account Verification reduces the chance of Fraud and increases the trust of the customers for secured transaction. PayPal also offers Buyer Protection coverage up to $1000 for free.

PayPal and ebay has got a team of over thousands of people for Research and Developmentand innovate the newest methods and technologies to stop fraudulency over the Internet and ensure secured transaction.

Functionalities

If we want to look at their functionalities, eBay allows the user to sell & buy through Auction as well as Fixed Price Method. They allow transactions through cheque, cash (which goes without Purchase Protection Scheme), drafts, wire, PayPal. But they insist on secured transactions through Internet using the Payment gateway like PayPal. They confirm the transactions by email. PayPal also uses email addresses as the medium of communication as well as confirmation. PayPal has got 3 kinds of accounts like Personal, Premier and Business Accounts with different limits and fees. Currently PayPal allows the user to send payments in Canadian Dollar, Euro, Pond Sterling, US Dollar, Yen, Australian Dollar. A user can request money from PayPal from Auction, charity fund, group gift or by sending an invoice directly in the recipient's email address. Users may send funds by using Credit Card or bank Accounts and withdraw funds straight to their Accounts (In US Banks only) or by sending drafts to the respective verified mailing addresses.

User Network

We should appreciate the famous remark of Peter Thiel of PayPal, "eBay and PayPal have built vibrant user networks on the Internet" in October 2003, when eBay finally took over Paypal. Perhaps we can treat this collaboration as a continuous endeavour towards secured transaction.