I Tried To Set Up A Giving Page And PayPal Banned Me

I've been using PayPal for over 20 years, and during that time it has become one of those services that I almost took for granted. I receive payments through PayPal, and I also use it to pay other people and businesses. Until recently, I hadn't really considered what would happen if I suddenly couldn't use it anymore.

The problem started when I decided to set up a giving page for my Christian website that I run and the YouTube channel voluntarily, and I wanted to give people the opportunity to help towards the costs of running the website, producing videos and supporting the evangelistic work that I am increasingly becoming involved with.

I Contacted PayPal To Put Things Right

I thought setting up a PayPal giving option would be relatively straightforward. However, when I started the process, I discovered that my PayPal Business account was still connected to an old limited company that I set up in 2008. That company was dissolved in 2010, and today I operate as a self-employed sole trader.

Rather than ignoring the problem, I contacted PayPal and explained everything. I wasn't trying to hide the fact that the company had been dissolved. In fact, I was doing exactly the opposite. I wanted PayPal to update the account from the old company structure to reflect the fact that I am now a sole trader.

Unfortunately, PayPal checked Companies House, saw that the old company had been dissolved and permanently restricted my account because they considered there to be an "excessive risk" involved in doing business with me. The irony is that they only investigated the old company because I contacted them voluntarily to correct the information on my account.

More Than Just Losing A Giving Button

I've appealed the decision and provided evidence from Companies House showing exactly what happened. The matter has gone through PayPal's complaints process, and I'm now considering taking the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

However, the experience has made me realise that this isn't just about finding another way for people to support what I do. I have also received money through PayPal over the years and used PayPal to make payments. Suddenly, a financial service that had been part of my online activities for more than 20 years was no longer available to me.

It reminds me of something we often talk about here at Wealthy Affiliate. We shouldn't build our entire business on someone else's platform. We normally say that about Google, Facebook, YouTube and other traffic sources, but perhaps we should be thinking about payment providers in exactly the same way.

What Are The Best PayPal Alternatives?

I've started looking at alternatives, including Revolut, which I have already been using for around a year and actually like very much. I'm also aware of services such as Stripe and other payment processors, but this experience has made me think that perhaps having more than one way of receiving and making payments is a sensible precaution.

Even if PayPal eventually restores my account, I'm not sure I would want to be completely dependent upon it again. Twenty years of being a customer doesn't necessarily mean that you'll still have an account tomorrow.

So I thought I would put the question to the Wealthy Affiliate community.

What do you think are the best alternatives to PayPal? Have you ever had your PayPal account restricted, and do you have a backup payment provider in place in case something like this happens?

I'd be very interested to hear what other members are using.

Thank you for reading.

Roy