HertogJan: I don't own a creditcard and have no trust in paypal.
Wirecard AG, a German bank, offers a
virtual credit card.
It's linked to your bank account with them.
Simply open a bank account there, transfer funds to it (costing € 1 per transfer), and you can use the virtual Mastercard that's attached to it.
I've been using it for over a year now without any problems.
It should be clear that you can't pay more cash than there's in your account.
cogadh: You don't trust PayPal, yet you use a service that is virtually identical to it, except PayPal doesn't charge funds transfer fees... I want to say that's really ironic, but ever since that Alanis Morrisette song, my irony senses are a little blunted.
It didn't cross your mind that me not trusting paypal might actually have something to do with paypal and not with the type of company it is or the market it operates in?
I did use it in the past, till about 2.5 years ago when they got a European bank license.
They moved accounts from 1 paypal company to another in another country with different terms and conditions and a different privacy policy.
At that time they also canceled the option to transfer funds to your account.
Instead you could only use paypal by giving them an unlimited and none expiring right to withdraw money from your bank account.
That's not something I'm willing to give any company.
The way things were communicated, including their replies to my complaint and questions, made me complete loose my trust in them.
I'm not willing to let them handle my payments.
In The Netherlands we have a saying: Where there's smoke, there's fire.
The internet is full with people's bad experiences with paypal.
I'm sure some are exaggerated, but there's too many to ignore them.
Anyone not living in the US knows that paypal is screwing you over when you're paying in a foreign currency.
They add 5% to the exchange rate, in their favour off course.
As I happen to do some payments in British pounds and American dollars, I'm not looking for constantly paying way too much.
As for Wirecard, so far I needed their support once.
I was helped quickly, professionally and politely, exactly as I expect from bank personel.
My problem was dealt with within 24 hours.