Paypal becomes a bank in Luxembourg *merged*

doingwhatican

I have just had a splash screen telling me that paypal is changeing and that I need do nothing.
It reads.

Currently, PayPal (Europe) Ltd. is the service provider for PayPal in the European Union (the “EU”). PayPal (Europe) Ltd. is a UK company regulated and authorised by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) in the UK as an electronic money institution. This authorisation enables PayPal to provide its service throughout the EU.

From 2 July 2007, PayPal Europe Sàrl & Cie, SCA (PayPal Luxembourg) will become the service provider for PayPal in the EU. This is a Luxembourg entity regulated as a bank by the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF), the Luxembourg equivalent of the FSA. PayPal Luxembourg will provide the PayPal service throughout the EU.

No action is required on your part, and you will be able to continue using PayPal with no changes.

Your customer relationship with PayPal
On 2 July 2007, your customer relationship will be automatically transferred from PayPal (Europe) Ltd. to PayPal Luxembourg.

New User Agreement and Privacy Policy
From 2 July 2007, PayPal Luxembourg will have a revised User Agreement and Privacy Policy.

This User Agreement will help users more easily understand PayPal’s terms and conditions and will incorporate many of the policies currently accessed by hyperlinks.

Under the Privacy Policy, PayPal Luxembourg will be the data controller of your personal information as of 2 July 2007. In addition, it will provide more details about the third parties to whom PayPal Luxembourg will disclose your personal and account information.

If you do not wish to continue your relationship with PayPal, you may close your account at any time by logging in to your account, clicking Profile, and following the instructions from the "Close Account" link. You should make sure you first withdraw the outstanding PayPal balance to your bank account.


What does this mean for us mear mortals. I see is says paypal is now recognised as a bank? Does this mean we can get better treatment from them ( not likely ) Do they have to adhear to strickter guidelines? Does any one know if we will have more rights against chargebacks or other stuff.
Of course, if you dont agree with it then you can close your account.
Or is it purely a move so they can pay a different rate of VAT.

Road_Hog

I haven't worked all the ins and outs of it yet, but I can assure you it will benefit paypal and nit its customers. It will no longer be registered by the FSA and will no longer be a UK company, so I don't think UK banking rules will apply.

When you log into your account (paypal not ebay), you will see a message, expand it to see the T&C and you will see this nice bit.

"Under the Privacy Policy, PayPal Luxembourg will be the data controller of
your personal information as of 2 July 2007. In addition, it will provide
more details about the third parties to whom PayPal Luxembourg will disclose
your personal and account information."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2007/05/15/cnpaypal15.xml

yeslek

better close my account soon then eh

yeslek

its the disclosure of info to third parties i'm weary about

Hintza

Any banking lawyers out there know what this will mean?

Road_Hog

ts_aly2000 wrote: »

Does this mean that they're going to start behaving like a bank and will become regulated? As in an end to them being Judge, Jury, and Executioner with your money?

I doubt it, I think it will be worse, as currently paypal europe is a UK company that is regulated by the FSA and is at least in UK jurisdiction.

It will become a Luxembourg company and all though you will be using it in the UK, I'm sure all transaction will be "carried out" as such in Luxembourg, which seems to have fairly lax regulation compaired to the UK.

martindow

Are we reading more into this than is warranted? The Luxembourg VAT rate is 16 per cent and the saving over paying 17.5 per cent here would be considerable. I always thought that if your turnover is above a certain figure in another EC country you had to register for VAT there. It appears this is not so?

vikingaero

I think that part of the decision to up sticks is also due to the complaints procedure The FSA charges banks/organisations for each registered complaint regardless of fault. Banks get charged £400 per complaint. And I suspect that PayPal has more than it's fair share of complaints with their irksome unilateral actions. By moving registration to Luxembourg it may be harder for UK residents to complain effectively.

Tam_Lin

Something called MiFID is going to muddy the waters:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MiFID

iieee

Does it mean we can reclaim our PayPal charges now? :whistle:

b14ck

i've just received an email from paypal saying that from 2nd of july it aint going to be paypal Europe anymore,its changing to PayPal Luxembourg.
now, i know that Luxembourg isn't really a proper country,.... i'm not sure if it's even in the EU?.... so is this an attempt by ebay and paypal to get around the protective laws that the citizens of the European union enjoy but the USA doesn't?
re: https://www.paypalsucks.com etc?