okay i opened an account in paypal.. but for some reason they are not accepting my visa electron debit card..i contacted them also.. they replied almost a week later saying that that card cannot be added and i should contact my card issuer bank for more info...
ok i don't want to go through all the trouble of complaining to the bank and all... as it is, it is an indian public sector bank and i will have a hard time with them..
what i want to know is that can i still accept payments with this account? if so, i can use that money for shopping online with that paypal account... i have this doubt as my paypal account page has the link "Add card" under the title Activate account..please reply.
munim
Note: sorry this topic doesn't somehow fit under "what is.." but i couldn't find another place to put it and i need a reply urgently. thanks.

Hey amkint,
    [/tab] Even I've a couple of VISA ELECTRON debit cards, but it's that electron part that prohibits it from being used online. Have you ever used it to buy anything online ? I've tried earlier and never could. The only response I got from my bank is that the ELECTRON stamped cards are ONLY to be used on Card Swiping Terminals and ATM Machines. In all probablity, your card number is NOT ENGRAVED on your card, but just printed. I don't know much about all the different card formats, but I've noticed that mostly you can use the cards with engraved lettering online (and with paypal)... and electrons - not at all - at least the ones you get in thailand. Now since all these VISA, MasterCard, VISA Electron etc.. are supposed to conform to certain worldwide standards, I think the same rule applies to your card too... specially lol.. the card from an indian PUBLIC Sector Bank..lol.. yeah tell me about them (i've had my own share of experiences with them)....

[tab] I was going to tell you to cross check with your bank again - but then when I read what bank it is - errr... you indeed would have a hardpressed time with them.

    [/tab]I'm not sure though whether you'll be able to receive payments. You should check up on the different types of accounts PayPal has - I think the basic one doesn't permit you to receive payment. In case they do, try sending in a check or wire transfer the money to them.. Once that is put into your account - you can easily go off on a shopping spree.

[tab]Oh yeah one more thing - that Add Card button is visible in all the account types - it's their method of verifying your authenticity. If you have a credit card or some card that's accepted online, (this is what they did earlier) they'd charge your card for a couple of dollars and when the statement of charge appears on your credit card bill, you get a certain Code Number along with that .. it's this Code Number that you got to go back to PayPal and enter - to prove that you are indeed the authentic cardholder....so there...

    All the best with your bank... lol Why not try switch to HSBC or Standard Chartered ??

P.S. I'm from India too Calcutta.. but now settled in Thailand

thanks for clearing my doubts...
hey i am a member of corpbank and its actually a good bank.. only problem they won't properly listen to complaints..
HSBC and Standard Chartered are both MNC banks in india... they require more intial deposit.. don't think my dad will allow..
whats more... i am not on a salaried account so i think i can't get a credit card!

I have an ICICI Debit card w/ Electron thing and I have used it couple of times on the net. I dont remember. I use my card online more than I use it on those swapping machines.. LOL, Anyway, Many of them did not accept that card. But Some do accept it. Or may be, they cut my cash out of the secondary card that I had set (credit).

can u give an example of any site where u used an electron card? thanks..
PS: this is shocking.... even u r indian!!

Paypal wont take mine either (visa electron) but my favourite online store (play.com) does.

really good popular website that accepts visa electron card is "amazon.com" it has fast delivery, and free delivery for any that is over £19GDP. i rekon its a good site to buy from. foundd that 100cds costs only £10 on there! what a bargin!

oh i never knew amazon supports visa electron cards!! thanks.. i gonna try it out.

U can receive payment from your customers by asking them to send their money from their paypal's account to your's, but if you're talking about taking credit card payment on your online website from customers, then you can't do that if your paypal is a personal account as opposed to a business account, regardless of whether your account has been verified with a credit card.

Hey Amkint,

I can only give you an insight here. Debit cards issued in India do not function for online transactions. While I was in the UK last I tried this with my HSBC issued (Bangalore) Visa Electron on Amazon as well as eBay - Unsuccessfully (my Barcleys Card as well as my India issued Credit card worked though). The reason has not been absolutely clear, but it has something to do with the ATM transaction security acceptability issues in India. Recently though, various banks have associated with PaisaPay (http://www.paisapay.com) to push account transfers. You can accept Credit card transfers through this too. By either linking an account with one of the partner banks (of PaisaPay) or your credit card.

To use the PayPal account you will need to link your Credit Card (Not debit). Although I had a PayPal account this was recently closed because they required an American Social Security Number too.

Hope this was helpful

R