ASA rules PayPal is safer than Credit Cards !

IsPaypalSafer

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has today ruled that using 'PayPal is safer than credit cards' !!!
In particular, it is fine for PayPal to advertise 'PayPal is Safer'.

See asa.org.uk/Complaints-and-ASA-action/Adjudications/2010/11/Paypal-%28Europe%29/TF_ADJ_49389.aspx

I believe this is a gross error on the part of the ASA (to be fair, I made the complaint, so I would).

I have 13 days to appeal this decision, but only if I can present evidence to demonstrate that the ruling is in error.

Since the ruling is subjective, this may not be possible.
The ASA have based their ruling almost exclusively on the fact that you don't have to reveal your credit card details when using PayPal, therefore PayPal is safer than credit cards.

Can anyone supply evidence that nowadays (with Chip-and-Pin, Verified by Visa and the like, Payment Services Regulations 2009, Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act), using a credit card is no less safe or safer than using PayPal ?
The above points were all mentioned in the original complaint, so just mentioning them again will not help - I need substantial evidence that with these points in action PayPal is as safe or less safe than credit-card use, or other points in general make PayPal less safe or only as safe as credit cards, rather than safer.

Stonk

It depends critically on what one (and the ASA) means by "safe".

A lot of your reasoning about safety in your earlier thread was based around the fact that the cardholder is not liable for fraud committed on their card, or non-performance by the retailer, etc, unless they have been badly negligent. This is "safe" in the sense that the cardholder ultimately does not lose out. However, in the meantime while the mess is being sorted out, the cardholder is in a negative position and possibly quite stressed about it.

One could argue that PayPal is "safer" because there is less opportunity for fraud in the first place, because your card details are not disclosed.

Personally, I would say the credit card is safer because it appears to offer better protection than PayPal when things go wrong. But it hinges on the feeling that I can weather the temporary stress while any mess is being sorted out, because I know that eventually it will work out fine. But many people would get really wound up, and their idea of "safe" would be that the bad situation doesn't occur in the first place.

Having read the ASA's ruling, they have essentially allowed PayPal to supply its own definition of "safe". As such, you're never going to win this! Unless you can convince the ASA to use a different measure of "safety" ...

Stonk

If you really want to pursue this, I think you will need to read through PayPal's policies and procedure in fine detail, and concoct one or more scenarios in which a transaction occurs, goes wrong in some way, and the user ends up being worse off having used PayPal compared if they had used a credit card. "Worse off" would ideally be both in a financial sense and a mental sense.

I am not sure where to start - perhaps ordering a sofa with a long delivery date, and the retailer ultimately does not perform but the user does not realise until PayPal's time limit for claims has expired. I don't know what PayPal does in that situation.

bengal-stripe

IsPaypalSafer wrote: »

I believe this is a gross error on the part of the ASA (to be fair, I made the complaint, so I would).

I have 13 days to appeal this decision, but only if I can present evidence to demonstrate that the ruling is in error.

What's in it for you...........what are you selling?

HaveIBeenRippedOff

What criteria did the ASA use ?

IsPaypalSafer

Also note there was a previous thread at forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=2856344 discussing this issue (although the ASA wasn't mentioned, as they enforced confidentiallity until today - that is why this new thread was started).

IsPaypalSafer

bengal-stripe wrote: »

What's in it for you...........what are you selling?

I am an occasional PayPal user, and find it a useful tool.

I like PayPal, and vote with my feet by using it on occasion, although I personally wouldn't use PayPal for over £30 (unless I was forced to on eBay), as the user reviews I have viewed of their dispute resolution process don't give me any confidence that I would end up being seamlessly protected.

I therefore don't believe that PayPal is safer, or should be allowed to advertise that 'Paypal is safer'. That is my personal view.
I don't believe that PayPal is unsafe, any more than I view using a credit card as unsafe.
My understanding was that the ASA is there to protect against unfair advertising. Obviously, if PayPal really is safer, then they should be allowed to advertise that 'PayPal is safer'.

GillsMan7

Just how many threads do we need on the same subject? That's three now by the same OP.

GillsMan7

Stonk wrote: »

Having read the ASA's ruling, they have essentially allowed PayPal to supply its own definition of "safe". As such, you're never going to win this! Unless you can convince the ASA to use a different measure of "safety" ...

The definition of "safety" would have to be what most consumers are likely to infer is meant by the ad. So it depends on the context of the ad and the word safety within that context.

IsPaypalSafer

GillsMan7 wrote: »

The definition of "safety" would have to be what most consumers are likely to infer is meant by the ad. So it depends on the context of the ad and the word safety within that context.

I believe it's a tagline of Paypal's: PayPal - Safer. Simpler. Smarter

Since it's a tagline, it could potentially crop up in many places.
The actual occurrence I saw was on PayPal's website, after having heard a similar tagline promoted on the radio.

SnowTiger

IsPaypalSafer wrote: »

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has today ruled that using 'PayPal is safer than credit cards' !!!
In particular, it is fine for PayPal to advertise 'PayPal is Safer'.

See asa.org.uk/Complaints-and-ASA-action/Adjudications/2010/11/Paypal-%28Europe%29/TF_ADJ_49389.aspx

I believe this is a gross error on the part of the ASA (to be fair, I made the complaint, so I would).

I have 13 days to appeal this decision, but only if I can present evidence to demonstrate that the ruling is in error.

[...]

Can anyone supply evidence that nowadays (with Chip-and-Pin, Verified by Visa and the like, Payment Services Regulations 2009, Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act), using a credit card is no less safe or safer than using PayPal ?

So , you've previously gone off and made some unfounded accusations to the ASA against PayPal. And now you want someone to help you prove your case?

Priceless. :rotfl: