Have to open Paypal account to pay with credit card

lle

I have been trying to renew my annual sub to an organisation which I have been a member of for a few years. In the past I have logged into my members account on the organisation website and used my credit card. But now the only option on the site is to go via  a pay with Pay pal button, but they say I don't need an account, I can log in as a guest. I got as far as putting in card no, exp date and security number (name and address automatically added as I am logged in). Then I am required by Paypal to create an account with them, before my payment can be processed. At that point I cancelled the transaction as no way do I want a Paypal account, I can see no advantage and it costs money. Has anyone else encountered this problem and managed to make a payment without being forced to create an account in this very underhand way?

eskbanker

lle said:

no way do I want a Paypal account, I can see no advantage and it costs money

It shouldn't cost anything to open and use an account for paying for goods/services?  Like any other payment methods (such as credit cards) there are fees in certain scenarios, but if you use them wisely you don't need to pay anything....

Zinger549

A PayPal account doesn't cost anything

AstonSmith

I think PayPal only let you use guest checkout with a particular card something like 3 or 5 times before it demands an account be made. You could probably avoid making an account if you use a different card.

Olinda99

I would complain to the organisation it is unreasonable to only accept paypal.

DullGreyGuy

Olinda99 said:

I would complain to the organisation it is unreasonable to only accept paypal.

Complain to whoever you want, many companies only use a single payment processor.

lle

when I got to the point where Paypal said I had to set up an account it wanted to take £10 in addition to the money I was paying with my card. I do not shop online much and in the past have just use my credit card normally, no intermediate organisation taking their cut. I cannot see any point at all in having a Paypal account, can anyone explain the advantage, please.

eskbanker

lle said:

I cannot see any point at all in having a Paypal account, can anyone explain the advantage, please.

Er, it allows you to pay businesses that only accept PayPal payments!

If you were being prompted to pay £10, maybe just visit the PayPal website independently and register for a free account, before using it to pay at the place you're renewing?