Can I trust PayPal with my bank account login credentials?

[thatfancypenn]

I have tried to verify my bank account by doing the 2 seperate transactions thing but that didn't work because apparently my bank didn't recognize the account number that I gave PayPal (I think it's stupid that they don't make sure that it's a valid account first), and I have to get this thing out by Friday, so can I trust PayPal with my bank account credentials? I know they said that they don't keep the information but still, it's really weird giving that stuff out.

 

[Jacob McIntosh]

Really, it's all up to you to decide if you want to trust PayPal, but IMO, PayPal is a great way to shop online and I have never had any problems with them. I trust PayPal, but like I said before, it's ultimately up to you to decide.

 

[ss202sl]

"my bank account credentials" What do you mean by this? All I had to do was verify that their transactions occurred - I never had to give them any passwords or anything.

 

[thatfancypenn]

"my bank account credentials" What do you mean by this? All I had to do was verify that their transactions occurred - I never had to give them any passwords or anything.

There are two options, one that verifies instantly and the other that takes 2-3 days. I don't have 3 days to ship out my item. I tried the thing with 2 transactions but apparently I gave the wrong account number so idk.

 

[Alabalcho]

If your bank is in the US - get your checkbook (the one you write paper checks from). The routing number is nine-digit on the bottom left. The account number is ten digits on the bottom right. In the middle are four (or five) digits with the check number.
http://www.ehow.com/how_7354184_account-routing-number-check.html is a good example.

 

[bill001g]

When I used paypal I had the bank set me up a secondary account that I only kept a very small amount of money in. I could transfer to and from my main account online.

If you read the fine print paypal technically can take as much money as THEY feel you own. You have little recourse since they force you to binding arbitration rather than a court and it pretty much prevents you from being able to afford to take any action against them even if they are wrong.

Generally this issue comes up when there is a dispute between seller and buyer on ebay. Paypal tends to always favor the buyer so if you get a scammer you can get your money tied up for a long time.

The vast majority of the time there are no problems at all. Paypal makes way more in fees so they really have no incentive to steal peoples money. Still there is no reason not to protect yourself with a separate bank account. You really don't want to give someone your bank routing number and account number on a account that if it gets messed up you would end up getting charged lots of fees if a check bounced or something.

 

[Hawkeye22]

Isn't there an option to tie it to a credit card account? It's much easier to dispute a CC transaction than a bank account transaction.